My whole goal with the bedding in our master bedroom is to stick with blues, whites, and creams, but really amp up the interest with texture. So when I saw this picture in the May issue of Better Homes and Gardens, I was all like, “OMG, love.”
Better Homes and Gardens, May 2011 | Photographed by Marshall Johnson
I love it all, but that blue tufted pillow especially because it reminds me of something my dad’s mother would have had. And it fits into my color + texture parameters. I checked the resources section and googled around, but I couldn’t find anything similar within my price range. I lamented.
Then, when Amanda at Our Humble A{Bowe}d said she got two velvet throw pillows at World Market for only $10 each, I got excited. I hadn’t been to World Market in years, but I stopped by after work one day and was glad that I did. That place has some cool stuff at ah-mazing prices. I’ll definitely be back. I picked up a velvet pillow in a rich teal hue with plans to tuft it myself. Here’s how I did it:
Step 1: Borrow my friend Cassie’s wonderful button collection to shop from
Step 2: Choose two tiny but adorable coral-colored glass buttons
Step 3: Fail at various tufting strategies. Decide not to share the gory details publicly.
Step 4: Use a small crochet hook to pull thin yarn through the various holes I made in failed attempts
Step 5: Continue using the crochet hook to thread the yarn back and forth through the center of the pillow a few times
Step 6: Pull yarn taut and fashion into a knot, creating a tuft
Step 6: Thread a regular ol’ needle and tie one of the glass buttons onto the end.
Step 7: Push the needle through the center-ish of the tuft and thread it through the other button on the backside.
Step 8: Thread back and forth a few times, looping through the back of the button each time and trying to get them pretty snug up into the tuft
Step 9: Do the best job you can of tying off the thread without letting the buttons get all loose-like. Trim the extra thread
Step 10: Admire your handiwork. Wish you had a fancier camera. Or actual photography skills.
I’ll be the first to admit that it doesn’t really look anything like the inspiration pillow, but I like it nonetheless. After looking at these pictures, though, I am thinking that the tiny little coral buttons are perhaps a bit too small. Maybe they’d have a little more oomph if they were backed with larger mother-of-pearl buttons? I kind of love the pop of coral against the rich blue, especially since it ties into the floral linen on the hope chest. I am so not a million-throw-pillows-on-the-bed kinda gal, but I think that I am going to whip up one more teeny tiny pillow to make this pair a trio. All good things come in threes.
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