New Product Development: Throw Pillows

When I started making ruanas, I made different decisions from my teacher on a number of fronts. One of them was the uniqueness of my cloth. I design my cloth with much more complicated color gradients. Another was the decision to never weave two garments with the same weft colors. This means that hoods are not interchangeable and that there will always be "left over" cloth when we cut out the hoods. We use the center of the cloth and have a matching pair of squares that remain unused. I've been carefully folding them and putting them in a box, waiting for the day that I can develop a line of throw pillows.

Well, that time has finally come. Today I'm at Select Designs, where Karen and I are problem-solving the development of these pillows.
What weight of cloth should we use for the back?
How much cloth does each one take?
How are we finishing the edges?
Do we need to use bias tape to hide the seams?
How long will it take for each one when we get into full production?
What size pillow form do I need to stuff them correctly?

We're working out the answers to all of these questions today so that I can buy, prewash, and iron the bolts of backing cloth, buy the pillow forms, and have about 30 pairs of them sewn and delivered in time for the UDistrict Street Fair in Seattle two and a half weeks from now.

I think that throw pillows are going to take the place of the scarves that I've been (not) selling. They're meant to bring a different customer into the booth: people who are more interested in adorning the house than adorning themselves. They'll probably be priced about the same as the scarves. It's much less cloth but much more money for other materials and sewing time.