When you say 'modified' box pillow; do you mean squaring the corners? Any trim would likely have to be sewn on by hand in a 'mock box' pillow, but that would be easy to do.

I have attached a link where the writer made 26" Euro shams. She did a 3" flange, which looks size-appropriate, but she didn't use a contrasting fabric.

I Googled images of Euro shams with contrasting flange, and the ones with a smaller flange looked best to me; like the one inch that you've proposed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Easy Euro Shams with a 3

m3d, DD and I have an aversion to "floppy flanges," such as you get with a 3" flange. What a clever idea to use batting to keep them from flopping.

The flanges I'm contemplating would be very very small, not much more impact than self-welting. They would be made separately and sewn in just like piping.

this is a photo of trim detail similar to what I'm thinking about.

Oooh bb - I like that flange! I think that would look great.

I personally like to round the corners. When making pillow covers, I make a square pattern the size I want (i.e. an 18" square) and then take a saucer, lid or something round and mark the rounded corners on my pattern.

I also think it makes a huge difference to use down (or down alternative) inserts rather than foam.

Please share your finished pillows with us. I have a bit of a pillow addiction! LOL

tina

How about this one? How would you construct this one? Is it just a simple box, not overstuffed with the corners tied together? Do you sew the ties in as you construct the pillow? How do you think this would look in toile with solid linen sides?

tinam61, thanks for the tip on rounding the corners. I'm envisioning you still have what appears to be a square pillow but without what I call ears...the little pointy corners. Is that right?

Yes you are right! Something about those little pointy "ears" bothers me!

tina

I'm loving these 'inspiration pillows you're showing us! That corner trim detail on the 'mock box' narrow flanges is adorable.

The one with the tied on cover...Love it! If (heck, WHEN) I make one of those, I'd make the cover separately from the inside pillow, and just tie it over the inside pillow at the corners. Then I would probably take a few invisible hand stitches between the welt and the cover fabric to secure the sides to the inside one. That would allow you to take it off if you want to change the outside tied on cover. That welt almost LOOKS like uncovered cotton welt cord.

Here are two links to illustrate what I do when making knife edge pillows to avoid the pointy corners.

http://lifessweetessentials.com/kimono-chevron-pillows/

http://www.sewdaily.com/blogs/sewdaily/archive/2012/04/25/the-coolest-trick-for-sewing-a-pillow.aspx

I love the box pillow with the corner ties. It does look like a box pillow with the ties attached at the time the piping was sewn to the front fabric.

Keep it up! I'm getting confident that I can pull this off! Anyone with inspiration pillows they want to show us?

That trim detail that you posted isn't really a flange. I would call it flat piping. And yes, you need to taper the corners of pillows just like that link to avoid the dog-eared look. You can buy templates for that tapered corner. Dritz makes one available at Joann's. I have a different one I bought at a sewing expo, but it was more expensive.

On the box pillow with ties, it almost appears that the piping wasn't attached right at the corners and the ties were looped through the opening. I'd play around with some samples and see if you could get that to work.

I knew better than to try to open the link to Cote de Texas. Before my computer froze this time, I did notice that the photos are bigger than before, but I never got to any pillow photos.

Is it the dog eared corners like in the link bac717 posted that you want to avoid? I never thought of tapering the corners, but a good idea. I always round my corners and don't have dog ears. Makes it easier to put in ruffles and piping too.

I'm no help with the pillows, I'm still recovering from the whole cushion cover job...

but I wanted to say, Nobody stalks a house like Joni does. Wow.

Thanks for this post. I'll be saving it for ideas when I make accent pillows for my LR. I never thought about rounding the corners.
I'm always learning something new here : )
bac717 - thanks for those links!

Something I learned (and used recently) is to use an insert that is 2" larger than the finished pillow size. This fills out the pillow and the corners better. For example, I made my pillow 18" x 18" (finished size). I used a down insert that was 20" x 20".

On my future (rounded corner pillows), I will plan to use a larger insert, as well.

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but the zipper needs to be invisible, and their definitely needs to be a zipper. I have a few expensive to me, pillows, over $200, and even the down fillers have really nice covers on them.

I am definitely putting in a zipper, and luckily, all I know how to install is an invisible zipper! I never got the hang of the little flappy thing that covers a zipper, much to my mother's dismay.

clt3, I took another look at the pillow with the corner ties (from Mrs. Howard, btw). I think you are right. Rats! It was going to be so much easier to sew a tie into the corner rather than leaving the corner free! I may still just sew it into the corner. I can't get my head around having to have cording at the corners without a flange, but yet it would need a flange to sew into the seam allowance around the rest of the pillow. Way too complex for me!

I took a course in sewing for the home about 20 yrs ago. We had a marvelous instructor (Mary Lou Lange at Canada College in CA). Her motto was "kill the corners" of knife edge pillows.

The main text used was Singer Sewing For the Home, published by Cy DeCosse Press. This book and others in the series are still available on Amazon for a very reasonable price. They have incredibly clear photos and instructions, though the colors and fabrics seem a bit dated now. I still use
many of these books when planning and executing projects and think they are worthevery penny of the $5 or so price.

HTH,
Sara

I took a course in sewing for the home about 20 yrs ago. We had a marvelous instructor (Mary Lou Lange at Canada College in CA). Her motto was "kill the corners" of knife edge pillows.

The main text used was Singer Sewing For the Home, published by Cy DeCosse Press. This book and others in the series are still available on Amazon for a very reasonable price. They have incredibly clear photos and instructions, though the colors and fabrics seem a bit dated now. I still use
many of these books when planning and executing projects and think they are worthevery penny of the $5 or so price.

HTH,
Sara