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I love the simplicity of one long accent pillow on a bed, it feels finished without being fussy and makes making the bed extra easy.  I’ve been on the hunt for the perfect extra-long lumbar pillow basically ever since I made our headboard (2 years-ish ago), but none have really jumped out at me, so I rolled up my DIY sleeves and got to it.

DIY Tasseled Chambray Lumbar Pillow

Supplies Needed:
1 yard of fabric – I used a cotton chambray
Yarn
Scissors
Sewing machine
Embroidery Needle
Cardboard or thick card stock
Pillow Insert

To get started, we made the pillow cover first…

1. Cut the yard of fabric into three pieces. 1 measuring 14″x36″ and 2 measuring 14″x20″. I’ve created a diagram below to outline the steps as the pillow is so large it is hard to see the details and fit it all in one photo.

2. On the two 14″x20″ pieces of fabric use a sewing machine (or by hand if you are really patient) to sew a hem on one of the short sides (illustrated by the green dashed line in figure #1).

3. Overlap panel A over Panel B (face up, with the two hemmed edges facing each other) until the two panels together measure the same dimensions of the one 14″ x 36″ panel (illustrated in figure #2).

4. Layer the top panel, face down, over panel A and panel B. Sew around the perimeter leaving 1/3rd of an inch around the edge. The panels should be facing inward so once you’ve sewn it, the cover will essentially be inside out.

5. The finished cover should be at least .5″ to 1″ smaller than the measurements of the pillow insert. This way once you stuff it, it will be nice and full and not sad and droopy.

Now on to the tassels!

 1. Cut a piece of cardboard or thick cardstock to a 3″ square. (I used one of my son’s Magna-Tiles® because it was handy and already a 3″ square). Wrap your yarn around the board in taut loops 50 times. (You can wrap it less for a less full tassel but I wanted a short and robust tassel).

2. Slide the wound thread off the board and lie it on a 6″ piece of thread.

3. Tie the loose thread around the middle of the looped thread.

4. Pull ends of the 6″ thread upward and the wound threads downward. Cut another piece of 6″ thread and tie it around the looped thread creating the head of the tassel.

5. Cut the looped ends and trim them all to the same length. Tuck the loose ends of the thread at the neck of the tassel into the body of the tassel.

Now do this 11 more times! (I made three for each corner).

6. Use the tie-off threads and a needle to attach the tassels to the corners of the pillow cover.

7. Once you have all the tassels attached, re-thread your needle with a piece of yarn and tie a knot at the end. Starting from the inside of the pillow bring the needle and yarn out and back in, creating a small +. Tie the yarn off in a knot, trim it and start again to create the pattern of +’s.

8. And finally, stuff the pillow! I used this 14” x 36” pillow insert. I find king sized beds can be harder to style but this lumbar pillow makes it pretty fool proof. I kept it pretty minimal to let that yummy chambray fabric shine and just like my favorite pair of jeans, the cotton denim brings a relaxed but still stylish element to help complete the overall look.

Shop the post:
Nightstands by West Elm // Curtains DIY dyed, from Ikea // Curtain Rod from West Elm // Sconces by Cedar & Moss // Flower Print by Debbie Carlos  // Rug from Esalerugs.com // Pendant Lamp from a vintage shop, find new: Octo Pendant by Secto // Bedding by Parachute // Bed from West Elm (I re-upholstered it, DIY here) // Paint color is Snowfall by Behr // Leather Bench from CB2

Images by Sarah Sherman Samuel