gotta get a gosta

Ikea's Gosta Gatt down-filled pillows are strange little things: no more than 12" long and 8" across. Sort of kid-sized. Maybe travel-sized. They were marked down to $5.99 from $14.99, so I guess other folks didn't know quite what to make of them either, but a 70% markdown is not to be passed over lightly so I scooped up a pair. I figured a set of mini pillows would be useful in the car when one or the other kid falls asleep and leaves me free to daydream out the window without having to crane around every five minutes to straighten a lolling head in the backseat.



So there we are, me and a pair of cute but bland mini pillows. What to do, what to do? I admit that I'm a one-trick pony when it comes to sewing - appliques on everything! But I've gotten quite handy at doing them and I was able to whip up a pair of dandy pillowslips in an hour. If you want to jazz up your own Gosta Gatt, what I did was:

Cut a rectangle of cotton fabric that measures 33" wide by 12" tall and double hemstitch both short ends. Right or wrong sides together, it doesn't matter at this point, fold the long side of the rectangle about three quarters of the way up onto itself & press. Now you have a large section of doubled fabric and a smaller section of single-thickness fabric. Fold the single-thickness fabric over so that it overlaps 3 - 4" on the double-thickness fabric (follow?) This is where you'll stuff the pillow later. Press the two folds. Flip over to the front and centre your applique design on the front, using the two crease marks you just ironed as guidelines.

Now as far as appliques go, you can't go wrong with a basic shape like an apple, pear or tree. I've done all three freehand very easily. Kids' colouring books are a good source of simple, graphic shapes that make good appliques. And of course, Martha Stewart always has templates for cookies and other decor projects. The reindeer shape I used came from a cookie recipe in the December issue of MS Living, I drew the sheep freehand, using a stuffed animal for inspiration. Make sure the applique fabric is washable. Be careful with synthetic craft felt - it tends to pill and may not hold up on a frequently washed item. A bit of Heat & Bond on the back and a running stitch along the outer edge secures the applique to the pillowslip.

You're ready to sew. Flip the pieces right sides together, realigning the crease marks you ironed in earlier. You should be left with a more or less pillow-sized rectangle with the top quarter forming an overlap or flap. Sew up the long sides using a 5/8" seam allowance. Backstitch a few times at the overlap to make the seam extra-strong. Clip the corners so they'll poke out nice and pointy when you flip it the right way around and pink the sewn two sewn edges so they won't fray. Presto. A pillowslip.