My friend purchased this lovely plaid fringed shawl (no, it is NOT Burberry!) and asked my to make some throw pillows out of it:

Plaid Shawl with fringe

The pillows were pretty easy to make, however it did take some extra time to plan out the cutting in order to keep the fringe border intact and on the outside of the pillow edges and to get the invisible zippers installed correctly.

Normally making a pillow with fringe or a piped edge, you can just sew right sides together with the fringe or piping sandwiched between the two layers and facing to the inside, then it is turned right side out. However, this fringe was already part of the edge, so I opted to first sew the long sides, with the invisible zipper prestitched on, right sides together, but the fringed edges I top stitched them closed on the outside, close to the fringe:

Top stitching the fringed edge

Unfortunately, I was not able to match the plaid on the front of the pillows to the backsides which is a little disappointing. I would have needed more fabric to do this (probably another entire shawl!) or cut off the fringe from the shawl and reattach it as trim.

These pillows took about three hours to make, including the strategic cutting of the shawl and sewing.

Taa Daa!

Overall, they came out really nice and make great accent pillows for a couch or a bed. I hope my friend enjoys them for years to come!

Plaid pillows with fringe made from a shawl