Western Cowboy Home Decor

Western Cowboy Fabric

Western Fabrics From The General Store

The world of do-it-yourself Western home decor sadly remains closed to many people because they don't possess the rather simple techniques of home decor construction. However, this review is for everyone, those who already possess those skills and those who, being fine Westerners, are always ready to learn something new.

Being able to design your own Western fabric accents is a wonderfully freeing experience. No more will you be dependent on big name designers who live in far away cities. How could they know just what a Westerner needs anyway? So, together we'll plunge into the rich world of Western fabrics and come out with a few design originals on the other side.

The first and most obvious homemade Western accent for your home is, of course, a bed quilt. Bed quilts are easy to make and even the most basic designs can come off like artistic masterpieces with the right choice of fabric and trim.

Joann's online fabric store provides everything you might need to make a beautiful Western baroque bed quilt. Use burgundy lace fabric in combination with a deep rust small floral pattern to make a Lone Star bed quilt, trimmed in golden braided cord for a handmade statement of your Western taste.

The next choice for Western textile accents is window quilts and quilted wall hangings. Both of these options are good for both home insulation and beauty. Not that this is terribly well known, but a well constructed set of window quilts are the only sort of cloth window treatment that has a measurable positive effect on heating and cooling bills. Be sure to line any window quilt with a sturdy, lightfast rubberized fabric, as you don't want all your hard work getting sunbleached as years go by. There are no non-rubberized fabrics in existence that are completely lightfast, though some stand up better than others.

Denver Fabrics apparently delights in Western prints, they have quite a few. For the purposes of our window quilt design experiment, we chose the Calf Roping Cowboy print to combine with washed denim in a simple nine block quilt pattern that provides a simple frame for the lovely print.

Of course, slip cover upholstery is a classic of Western style, do-it-yourself decorating, and when done well can be a beautiful thing. The trick is, of course, to do it well. If you think that you're going to be sewing a lot of heavy Western upholstery fabric, give your hands, eyes, and stress levels a break and invest in a sewing machine guaranteed to sew heavy fabrics even if doubled over.

Fabric.com carries a huge selection of Western style fabrics. Their American Heritage Feather print would make a perfect sofa slipcover. It can sometimes be best to make a slipcover in several pieces, some individually made to cover the cushions, and another piece made to completely envelop the sofa underneath the cushions. This design for a slipcover both decreases its noticeability and makes sure that the cover doesn't slip right off.

The last, and most common beginner project, is the Western accent pillow. You can never, ever have too many accent pillows. If you think you might have too many, make some more and give them as gifts. They're perfect practice, and will provide warmth, comfort and the joy of homemade pillows to your home and family. Feel free to use all of the prints or materials that appeal to you for your pillow array, since more pillows are good pillows.

Thank you for coming with us on this journey through original design with Western fabric. We hope we have inspired you to make the most of your skills to create a Western home decor concept that is uniquely you.