Pillow with Knotted Welt Cord

 This pillow features a simple detail of welt cord knotted at each corner.  Encased welt cord (where the cord is finished with the seam inside) is used for the knots.  You can change the look by tying the encased cord as small bows, or other knot styles.  

See the step-by-step video at www.YouTube.com/@WorkroomTech

Notes:

A 1/4” welt cord foot and a skinny foot are used on the industrial sewing machine

The pillow in this tutorial is finished 20 x 20 inches.

What you will need:

Fabric

5/32” welt cord

4.5 nylon coil zipper

22” pillow insert

Optional / fusible stabilizer or lining

Cuts:

Cut front and back pieces 1 inch larger than the finished size.  Add fusible stabilizer or lining if needed and serge edges.

Cut bias strips 1-1/2 inches x enough pieces to make 85 inches of finished cording.  

For the encased cord - cut 1 one bias strip 1-1/2 inches by 28 inches.

Making the encased cord:

Cut off 56 inches of welt cord.  At the center, wrap the bias strip around the cord wrong sides out and stitch across to secure - with the needle down, turn and then continue to sew alongside the welt cord to the end.  Do not sew too close - there needs to be room for the fabric to turn right sides out.  Practice by making a test piece first.

Cut away the seam allowance to 1/4  from the stitching.  Gather the casing onto the cording, working towards the uncovered cord at the center.  

Use a tool like a large needle or regulator to help the fabric wrap over the end.  Continue gathering until you can pull the cording right sides out.  

Cut the encased welt cord into four, 6-inch pieces and tie into knots.

Sewing the pillow:

Pin one end of each knot at the corner of the pillow front and sew to hold in place.

 Sew welt cord around the edges of the pillow and over the end of each knot.  

 Tighten the knots to give more room for sewing and pin the opposite end of the knot over the welt cord. (You can remove some of the welt cord from the casing to reduce bulk).  Join the welt cord together near the bottom of the pillow.

Sew the open zipper next to the welt cord using the welt cord foot.  Zip closed and pin the back piece to the zipper tape.  Unzip and sew to the back.

Pin the pillow back to the front at the corners and sides.

Starting at the bottom, 1-1/2 inches from the corner, sew the front and back together.  At the zipper, be sure to stitch between the welt cord and zipper coil - sew to the corner, turn and continue around the pillow ending 1/1/2-inches from the opposite corner and zipper.

Turn right sides out.  

Top-stitch the zipper on the back of the pillow leaving a lip of fabric above the zipper coil.  The skinny foot works perfectly for this.  

For a more detailed zipper tutorial, see Susan’s Method for Zippers in Pillows on YouTube.

Stuff the pillow and zip closed.