Inside our Pillow Covers
As you probably know, at Manor & Nest we work with upholstery remnants to keep them from the landfill and to reduce demand for the production and shipping of new fabric. It’s part of our commitment to creating a more sustainable production model for home décor. However, this approach often places limitations on the design of the pillow covers (or, as we like to think of it, opportunities). Although most of our product descriptions state that design placement will vary, this does not mean that design placement will be slap-dash or uncaring. With most geometric designs, including stripes and plaids, we do pay attention to how the design will be placed on the finished cover, and we strive for centering, left and right, top and bottom. We also pay attention to the direction of the nap in velvets. On our pieced pillow covers we think about where you may be placing your head or elbows, and that is where we try to put the more resilient piece of fabric.
With many fabric patterns, our pillow cover size limits how much of the pattern you can see. But we think of that as a way to highlight areas of the overall design you might miss in a larger treatment (our Daintree and Citrus Garden pillow covers are two examples of that). In one set of pillow covers, our Higgins Salmon, the two large remnant pieces we started with were mirror images of each other, allowing us to create “book-matched” pillow covers. The designs may not be classically centered, but they do match at all four seams.
Our care with the design does not stop with the fabric on the outside and we hope you find the insides of our pillow covers just as beautiful. It starts with the zipper. We only use YKK concealed zippers, generally in a neutral color, and occasionally in white. All you should see when the pillow is stuffed is the zipper toggle.
We stitch all of our seams and then overlock them so they won’t fray. Because conventional sewing thread is spun to be stronger than serger thread, this two-step process also creates a stronger and more durable seam than would either technique on its own.
Our indoor/outdoor pillows are not lined, as leaving cotton in the weather can lead to mildew and decay. They are still stitched and overlocked, but the price of our indoor/outdoor pillow covers will reflect the lack of a lining. All of our other pillow covers are lined with 100% cotton, unbleached, which is freshly laundered and ironed before we cut it. You will see some wrinkles in the lining; that tells you it’s cotton.
Finally, you may well be wondering what we do with our own scraps and off-cuts. We save them for yet another cycle of reuse, using them to create smaller projects for ourselves and our friends: bookmarks, thread catchers, zipper bags, and other tiny things. We also keep a basket of scraps which we use to stuff our pouffes, pillows, and the occasional seat cushion and upholstery.