Spool and Spoon: A Pocketful of Posies Pillow

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

A Pocketful of Posies Pillow

Thanks to all of you who voted at So You Think You're Crafty last week, I got second place! Week two is in full force right now so stop by and vote for your favorites! You might not know this about the competition, but whoever wins each round gives a tutorial of their project at SYTYC. Since I was not number one last week, I get to share my tutorial here at Spool and Spoon instead!

We are having one long winter over here so I was really excited to hear that the Week 1 theme was Spring. The competitors are supposed to interpret the theme in whatever way we want so I combined the florals, bright colored decor, and stash busting spring cleaning all into one. From a handful of rolled flowers, some gorgeous grey chambray and a bit of stuffing blossomed this "Pocketful of Posies" pillow.

If you have the patience to make a ton of hand-stitched flowers and you can sew a straight line, you can make this pillow. What's not to love about that?

1. Using whatever method you'd prefer, make a ton of fabric flowers in coordinating colors.

2. Cut and iron fabric to use for your envelope pillow case. For a 12x12 pillow form, I had one 13x13, one 13x11, one 13x8, and one pocket shape.

3. Use small dabs of fabric glue to attach the flowers in whatever arrangement you like best. Add in felt leaves if you'd like. Once they are where you want them in relation to your pocket, start hand-stitching the flowers onto the background.

Since I used glue first, I found that I only needed a couple stitches per flower!

4. For the pocket, I cut a small bit of batting that fit inside the pocket shape and folded the top half of the pocket over the batting.

5. Then I pinned it down and stitched it down. That finished off the front panel of the case. Now, on to the rest.

6. Fold over one of the 13in edges on each of the remaining two pieces, pin it down and then stitch it.

7. Lay the front panel facing up, the lay the 13x11 piece face down on top of it, finished edge to the center. Pin the edge down

8. Lay the 13x8 piece face down on top of both of those, again with the finished edge to the center. Pin that piece's side down as well and then pin all around the perimeter with pins going through all three pieces on the top and bottom sections.

9. Flip the pillowcase right side out and slip in a pillow form. You're done!

Sure, the dent it made in my scrap collection was small, but the impact it made on the patio is exactly what the doctor ordered. Sunny, bright, and cheerful! That burst of color is just what I needed!