guest blogger tutorial: allison of cluck cluck sew

Hey there fellow V & Co. readers! Allison here from the site Cluck. Cluck. Sew. While Vanessa is on a plane heading to quilt market (jealous!) I get to man her blog and share a fun tutorial with you. So here goes…..

Today we’re going to make a Petal Pillow. Its very easy, cost me under ten bucks, and took about half an hour to make. Plus it will add lots of summer color (is it summer yet?) to your house.

First you’ll need:

-a little over a 1/2 yard of fabric….19 inches to be exact. You can get away with a half yard if you already have it, just cut your pieces to 18" instead of 19". I used home weight fabric from Joann’s.

- 1/4 yard felt. Buy the good stuff on the bolt and not the cheap sheets in the kids crafts section. The stuff I used is made from recycled plastic bottles and is really stiff and thick. This felt came on a 60" bolt, but if the bolt is smaller you might want to buy a half yard just to be safe.

- a large and small cup (or other circles) for tracing, a large bowl for tracing, a pen, scissors, and cardstock to make your template.

Trace the rims of your cups onto your cardstock and cut out.

Pin the templates to your felt and cut out circles. I was able to cut 3-4 circles at a time by folding the felt.

Cut out roughly 30 large circles, and 20 small circles. You can always use more or less….but more the merrier I always say.

Now cut your circles in half.

Now your going to cut your fabric into three pieces.

1 large square 19 inches x 19 in. , 1 rectangle 19 in. x 15 in. , and 1 rectangle 19 in. x 12 in.

On the right side of the 19 in. by 19 in. square, trace a bowl or large plate marking a large circle in the middle. Leave 4-5 inches or so around the edges. (my circle is hard to see in the next pic…squint real hard and you’ll see it!)

Line up the edge of a large petal along the line you just traced. As you sew the petals on, overlap the petals about a 1/4 inch. Continue sewing around the circle, adding petals.

When you get near where you started, put a petal in between the previous petals, so they overlap. Then you can start putting petals underneath the previous set. I lined up the straight edges of my petals only 1/4 in. or so underneath the previous petals because I liked them packed in there. Again…the more the merrier and the closer they are the better it will look.

If you want extra volume in your petals, you can curve them and fold the edges as you sew to make the petals stand up a little bit. I started curving and bunching them a little bit on the third or fourth row.

After you’ve done four or five rows of large petals and you’re getting close to the center, you can switch to your small petals. Again, as you get closer to the center you can curve and bunch the straight edge of the petals so they stand up a little and look like real petals. When you get to the center add a couple petals that are good and bunched at the bottom for extra volume.

Cut a small circle out of felt about 1 inch, or large enough to cover your edges. Sew down with a few stitches in the center of the flower.

Your done with the hard part…now lets make your pillow.

Finish the short edges (12 inch and 15 inch) of your two back rectangles by folding one side under 1/2" twice and sewing.

Place your pillow front and back pieces right sides together, lining up edges. Put the larger rectangle down first against the flower right sides together, then put your smaller rectangle on top if it, right sides together. Pin well.

Sew around the edges with a 1/2" inch inseam. Because home decor fabric frays easily, serge or do a quick zig zag stitch around the edges. Trim your corners and turn inside out.

Stuff with an 18 inch pillow form and your done! Yay!

Thanks for crafting with me today. You can visit me anytime at Cluck. Cluck. Sew. for free quilt patterns and more tutorials. Thanks Vanessa for letting me invade your blog today and have fun at market for all of us!!!! -Allison

thanks alison! that is just absolutely gorgeous. big hugs and kiss that yummy little baby on the head for me!!!

tomorrow we have another guest blogger tutorial.

see how i've taken care of you while i'm gone?