No-Sew Woven Suede Pillow

Materials:

suede, cowhide split *
12" square and 12" x 16" pillow forms
steel double-cap black finish rivets with a 1/4" cap, post and base
3/32" drive punch
mallet
punch board
concave anvil
rivet setter
knife
syringe
white leather adhesive
binder clips
ruler/straight edge
14" x 14" and 14" x 18" cardboard
pencil

* main color: tobacco, accent colors: black and chocolate

1. Cut the suede strips for the pillow fronts: For 12" x 12" pillow form, cut two 1-1/2" x 13" strips each of tobacco and chocolate suede and four 1" x 13" strips of black, six of chocolate and 10 of tobacco. For the 12" x 16" pillow form, cut two 1-1/2" x 17" strips each of toast and chocolate suede and cut four 1" x 17" strips of black, six of chocolate and 14 of tobacco.

2. Cut one suede pillow backing 1 inch larger than each pillow form.

3. Cut one mat board 2 inches larger than the actual pillow form size. As a guide, mark a 1/2-inch border along all four of the inside edges of the board (figure A).

4. To weave: Place one 1-1/2-inch tobacco-colored strip along one of the guidelines. Position side by side within marked boarder the ten 1-inch tobacco suede strips for a 12" x 12" pillow form or the 14 1-inch tobacco suede strips for the 12" x 16" pillow form. Follow with the second 1-1/2-inch tobacco strip.

5. Weave one chocolate 1-1/2-inch suede strip along one end of tobacco strips. Use binder clips to secure the woven end of chocolate and toast suede strips (figure B).

6. Weave the remaining chocolate and black strips of suede along the tobacco suede strips. Use the clips to secure the starting end of strip while weaving. To repeat the pattern shown, weave two chocolate strips followed by one black strip (figure C).

7. Pull the slack from all strips and clamp them securely in place. Use a syringe to inject a small, even amount of cement between the layers of strips to secure (figure D).

8. Place a weight over the woven suede surface until completely dry. Once dry, remove clips and use a knife and metal square to carefully measure and trim the woven pillow front square to 1 inch larger than pillow form.

9. To assemble the pillow cover: Place pillow front and backing together with the right sides out. Baste three of the edges together.

10. Along all four edges of the pillow cover, punch two holes 3/8 inch from the edge and evenly spaced between each 1-inch suede strip. In the corners, punch one hole in the corner and two holes on each side of the corner hole (figure E).

11. Set the double-cap rivets along the three basted edges using a rivet setter tool and a concave anvil (figure F).

12. Place pillow form into the woven pillow cover. Set the rivets along the open edge to secure form.

Tip: Additional designs and embellishment with rivets can be added on the surface of the woven pillow cover before basting the pillow covers front and back together.