how to mix patterns when decorating - nesting

I don't know about you but after the Christmas decor is put away my living room is always in need of a little freshening up.  We spend so much time in there that I thought a bit of color would help chase the winter blues away and make the room feel more warm and inviting.

And what better way to add color quickly and inexpensively than to add a few new throw pillows.
 But wait, have you priced pillows lately?  There is nothing inexpensive about them, even on sale these beauties from Joann's were nearly $20.00 dollars a piece.

So I decided instead to use these pillows as my inspiration and see what fabric was available to make them up myself.  (Even if you are not a sewer pillows are so easy that anyone who can borrow a sewing machine can put them together in no time.)

I headed over to the decorating fabric section of Joann's and started pulling out bolts of fabric that made me smile, especially at the sale price of $6.99 per yard.

This was my first cut...

I really wasn't thinking about pattern or scale at this point just pretty fabric.

I spread the material out on the counter and started making my design choices...

1. Color - I always start with the fabric with the most color in it and make sure the other fabrics have at least one of those colors as well.  In this case they all did.  Then I decide on a universal background neutral, in this case white, and again, all the fabric met the criteria.

Then I move on to the next design element...

2.  Scale - A good rule of thumb is one large scale, one small scale and one graphic.  As I looked at the fabric I knew I had too many large scale prints so I began eliminating those.  Next I started paring down the all over prints and decided the large scale floral was too much for the pillows I wanted to make and put it to the side.  (I love the fabric though so I may go back and grab for another project down the road.)

These were my final three.  One all over print, one large graphic and one small graphic.

I was hoping to add a bit of blue with a focal print and found this pretty, whimsical bird fabric.  It met all the criteria except a very important one, price.  It was $21.99 a yard on sale for $19.99.  Too expensive for my budget and because it was on sale I couldn't use my 40% off coupon.  I hate when that happens.  (In the end I had something at home that works perfectly so I'm glad I didn't buy it.)

Of course, as I was heading to the cashier after my fabric was cut I ran into to this adorable tea towel on sale and had to add it to the mix.  In the end, these are the fabrics I decided on and I absolutely love them.

I will take pictures and make notes as I sew the pillows together and share a quick tutorial soon.  Let me know if this helped you feel braver about mixing patterns.

Until then here's another look at my inspiration pillows.  I did a pretty good job duplicating the feel, don't you think?

If you're still intimidated by the thought of it, just look to the designers ready made items for ideas, they've already done the hard work for you.

xo, Patty

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