Another Lazy Day!

 Good morning. It's another hot one out there so I am once again finding things to keep me busy here in the house. Not only are the girls (my granddaughters) wanting to make this ghost pillow but I also had a friend ask about it as something she might do when her two sisters come from Nebraska for a visit so I thought today just might be the perfect time to try a sample. Here is the picture I am working from.

I found this on Pinterest and, as you can see, it is from "The Button Box". It is definitely the simplest of the three designs I picked and one that will be cute as a smaller decor pillow rather than a truly functional one. I have blown it up as much as I can and I think it employs a small amount of reverse applique-much less than the jack-o-lantern required-for the eyes so that is how I am going to proceed. lol

I ended up deciding to go with a pillow that will be 9 1/2" X 12". This one is stitched on the outside so the size you cut is the size you get.

I decided to use chalk paint because I didn't want it totally filled in with white but, even though my chalk paint was a brand new jar, I have had it for awhile so I ended up having to water it down a bit so it would spread and I got full coverage whether I wanted it or not. Lol I think I can go back with some distressing ink when all is said and done if I still feel like it needs it.

I'm pretty sure the eyes need to be sewn and then cut away revealing black paint underneath. My first thought was to just paint the area on the pillow front that will be under the eyes but I'm afraid the black paint might show through so I am going to just cut it out and paint it then. Fingers crossed.

So I am back and the pillow is now completed. And, as usual, I am very glad that I made a sample because I think there are a few things I will recommend that the girls do differently if this is the pillow they choose to make. I cut my ghost out of the same drop cloth that I used for the pillow and after the paint had dried, the ghost is very hard. The edges of the ghost are supposed to be frayed and that is almost impossible to do with the hard cloth so maybe I would suggest the ghost be cut from a different fabric-maybe muslin?

The assembly was pretty easy. I played around with where I wanted the eyes and #31. Then I stitched it up, cut out the top layer and painted inside the eyes and along the stitch lines with black paint. I used the black chalk paint and it wasn't easy to keep the lines straight but again, these things are supposed to look rustic so I'm OK with it.

When the eyes are cut out you are also supposed to be able to fray the inside edges of them but again, the hard cloth wasn't letting me do that as much as I wanted.

Next I stamped on the 31 and stitched the front of the pillow to the back. This pillow has outside seams and is also supposed to be frayed. Here I am getting maybe a bit too much fray because this part of the drop cloth is not painted. I thought about running a bead of glue between the two layers at the edge but was afraid it might show so I am going to see how it goes. This pillow is just meant to be stuck somewhere decorative so I think as long as no one is using it as a cushion, the fraying should stop where it is. We shall see.

I left a bit of the bottom open to stuff it and instead of going over the stitch lines with paint, this time I used a Sharpie and it was so much easier to control. Then I stuffed it but not too much, stitched up the remainder of the seam and went over it with a marker as well.

And voila! It's finished. Again, I made some mistakes on this one that I hope will make a difference on any others that we make but it will look cute stuck somewhere and, my new Halloween pile continues to grow!

That pretty much took up my yesterday but it was a good day. Two game wins on our side-one for the Coast Guard Academy and my grandson who started and had a really good day and then one later that night for the Gators!

And, while all of that was taking place, granddaughters #1and 4, who both happened to be in NYC for different things, managed to find each other and meet up! 

Looks like my Labor Day is going to be pretty much what a lot of the many last days have been-dreary and wet! I'm off to clean things up a bit and then have some lunch and we'll see how the rest of the day plays out. Stay safe and stay tuned.