Hotel Chevalier Pillow
Before we begin I should probably warn you that this is definitely a project you regret starting and continue to hate for about 90% of the process. Once it’s done it’s totally amazing but until that point, you will have regrets. Ok, you have been warned! Let’s get into this Hotel Chevalier pillow.
This Wes Anderson short film really isn’t my favourite, it does tie into my beloved Darjeeling Limited and therefore is worthy of a DIY on this blog. I will say that the bathrobe from the titular Hotel Chevalier is Ah-Mazing! Mustard yellow with red piping! Such a dream. So when the store I apparently buy everything from, IKEA, had this mustard pillowcase it felt like fate.
I know the quote people take away from this will be “I promise I will never be your friend.” but that is far too angsty for me. So I went for something a little different.
What You’ll Need:
- Pillowcase (or fabric to make a pillowcase)
- Red bias tape (or fabric to make bias tape, or ribbon)
- Fabric Glue
- Scissors
- Iron
The plan was initially to buy some red bias tape for the lettering. Bias tape is used for edging and decoration and you can buy bias tape in pretty much every colour at any fabric store. This project would be like 60% easier if I had just done that. But I was already at a thrift store and they had a bunch of red fabric for cheap! So I just bought fabric and made my own bias tape by cutting folding and ironing. It took 84 years and made me discouraged. So just buy it if you can.
In order to add the edging, you’ll need to cut open one side of the pillowcase. Most of the sides are already open but one isn’t. Don’t be scared. You’ll do fine.
Then place your bias tape into the existing edge on the pillowcase. Use a little glue to keep it in place and to seal the edges back up. Definitely thought I had clips but alas I did not. If you don’t either don’t be too bothered because these paper clips worked just fine. Set that aside to dry and get working on forming your letters!
Look at this mess I made for myself by deciding to make my own bias tape with nothing but scissors and an iron. On the bright side, I did get to watch a couple of episodes of Midsomer Murders. So it was a bit of a good time.
What I found easiest was to cut a strip for each letter, slowly form it into the correct shape ironing as you go. Then once you have the final shape of the letter press down the iron straight down and hold for a few moments. Carefully transfer the letters onto the pillowcase. It can be a little tricky working out the positioning of the words etc. Initially I started out with an outline as a guide but resorted to just winging it.
This works best by getting half your design down and then glueing it into place, making sure there is room for the other parts of the design. Laying out all the words before glueing let’s things get bumped and shuffled around. Save yourself some strife making the Hotel Chevalier pillow and glue as you go.
From the moment I first watched Hotel Chevalier, this line made me smile. Maybe because I am too obsessed with food, maybe because it was an unexpectedly sweet moment in the middle of a rather dire movie, whatever the reason it’s my favourite moment from the whole short film. This is an exhausting DIY made worse by my poor choices but now that it’s complete I’m so glad I stuck it out. Good luck fellow DIYers make better choices than me.
-Hannah
P.S. After all this talk about grilled cheese I was craving it. Thankful for friends that make a mean grilled cheese sandwich.
