Anniversary Flower Pillow

Nick and I are celebrating our second wedding anniversary today! We decided not to give each other gifts and to instead take the day off of work and go to a local water park together. We’ve both been really looking forward to it ever since Nick suggested it a few weeks ago. Even though we won’t be giving gifts to each other, I decided to make myself/our house a little something using items left over from our wedding. I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making fabric flowers ever since I saw this tutorial from Emily at Jones Design Company (she has many wonderful and easy to follow tutorials, so be sure to check her out if you love simple and beautiful crafts like me).

I cut two 14″ squares from some scrap linen left over from another project and sewed them into a cover for a really inexpensive Ikea pillow insert (I bought several of them last year with big plans for making pillows for the front porch, which never happened). To sew my pillow cover, I just placed the two pieces right sides together and sewed up three sides on my machine, then left a gap in the middle of the fourth side. I laid it out flat and trimmed the excess fabric from the corners, then turned the whole thing inside out and used a knitting needle to point the corners out so they were nice and crisp. Then, I stuffed my insert inside and carefully folded the edges of the opening inward, then smooshed it through my sewing machine to close it up. p.s. the sew-savvy among you may have noticed that I don’t use seam allowances. I like to live on the edge. Literally.

With my pillow complete, I used Emily’s template to cut “petals” from the cotton skirt of this dress that I changed into at the end of our wedding.

Brian Hursey Photography

I’ve only worn it one other time in the two years since we got married, so it’s nice to find another use for the fabric.

I followed the tutorial’s instructions to cinch the center of each petal with a needle and thread, then layered them on top of each other to create a lovely little flower. The tutorial said to stitch them together at the center, but I was sick of hand sewing so I put it together one petal at a time, using a dab of craft glue between each layer. I embellished the center with a brooch that belonged to my grandmother and that I wore pinned over the bustle on my wedding dress.

I used more craft glue to affix the flower to the center of my linen pillow, then placed it on the sofa in the dining room.

It’s a sweet little reminder of our wedding day. Looking back, I’m so grateful that we had the wedding that we did, and at the same time I’m relieved that I’ll never have to do it again! Sometimes I think we should have used the money to put towards our house or home improvement projects or something else more tangible, but when it comes down to it we are just memory-makin’ kinda people, and it’s more important to us to spend our money on something we can remember than something we can hold in our hands (hence the decision to spend our anniversary running around like kids at a waterpark). I’ve got a great guy and I’m sooooo excited to spend the day zipping down water slides with him.

If you’d like to make a flower like this one, be sure to check out Emily’s tutorial. I used the larger template for this project but a smaller flower would look just lovely as a pin or even stuck in a small picture frame with the glass removed.

p.s. I wasn’t paid or perked for mentioning Emily’s blog or tutorial, I just genuinely think it’s great! Trust me, if I ever start getting paid for this, y’all will know it!

6 Responses to Anniversary Flower Pillow

  1. Chester M Slick

    As a man, I have to say, “Gross!”

    As a sappy friend, I have to say, “That’s so cute!”

  2. Janet (Country Mouse}

    Happy Anniversary!! I love the pillow. It reminds me of the many large flowers we made and stuck anywhere when I was in high school. (It was the 60′s).

    • Charlotte | livingwellonthecheap

      Thanks, Janet! Sometimes I think I would’ve loved the 60′s, but I probably would’ve been trying to iron my wavy hair every day! Definitely love the mid-century aesthetic, though!

  3. Pingback: Framed Fabric Flowers | Living Well on the Cheap

  4. Pingback: Ch-ch-ch-changes | Living Well on the Cheap

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