Friday, March 2, 2012

1906 Montgomery Ward Windmill Advertisement Pillow

As an update to this post:

Printing Farm Fabric


I used the 1906 windmill advertisement to finally make a pillow.

After trying to cut out the advertisement so closely to the edge of the next one (ordered one yard with a repeating design), I have learned my lesson to order fat quarters from now on.  With a fat quarter, only one design is printed with plenty of white space between the design and the selvedge.


Because of the nonexistent edges that would have normally provided a seam allowance, I decided to sew the advertisement onto a soft khaki linen.  I just adore the tone-on-tone look to this piece.


Windmills hold such charm.  Notice the star-like design in the center of this particular Clipper windmill.


What a bargain, eh?


Throughout the past year, I've snagged a few boxes of vintage zippers at auctions; both brand new in packaging and used.  For this pillow, I chose a used long cream-colored zipper and sewed it at the bottom of the pillow cover.

I then made a pillow form inside by sewing up a knit fabric with a ticking design (oh how I despise sewing knit!  I really need to take the time to master that technique!) and stuffed it with polyester fiberfill.


What I love about printing antique ephemera on fabric at Spoonflower is the washability factor.  All fabric comes machine washable and dryer safe and I launder everything before I make the pillows.  That way the pillows can be used instead of placed high upon a shelf for safe-keeping.

I just sent this photo I took back in 2008 to Spoonflower because I think turning it into a pillow would make a nice display with the windmill advertisement:


Not everyone has the extra wall space or they don't want to put nails in the walls, but everyone has room for a pillow or two!

I currently have a larger pillow project sitting on the cutting table as I type, so I hope to feature the finished project by the end of the weekend.  Until then, happy shopping!

If you are interested in the windmill advertisement pillow, here's the link:

1906 Windmill Advertisement Pillow

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