I'm finding all kinds of inspiration in my birthday gift from Morgan and Brian, Amy Butler's In Stitches. It's full of creative ideas for home decor projects and other fun bits, including a floor cushion pattern that I couldn't wait to make for Kent. I rifled through my fabric stash, not knowing if I even had any heavyweight fabric that would hold up in this kind of project. Mais oui, I did. This great print came from either my grandmother or my Aunt Irene. I get some of their fabrics confused since I added them to my collection around the same time.

The pattern basically calls for making a simple yet very large rectangular pillow form out of muslin, stuffing it with polyfill (I bought 5 bags — you should have seen me trying to stuff them into various parts of Kent's stroller at Hobby Lobby and then watching them pop back out), making the outer case out of a heavyweight fabric, and then tufting the pillow with four large buttons (plus smaller buttons on the underside to hold the large ones in place) so that the stuffing stays put and it has some shape to it.

The pattern suggests using fabric-covered buttons, so I got to try my hand at doing that for the first time, and it was easier than I had expected. Everything came in one little package, including a pattern circle for the fabric, so they came together quickly. The buttons add just the right amount of cuteness. They were not so easy to attach to the pillow, however; the pattern called for using a 5" needle, and since I didn't have one, I figured I'd just make do with a regular needle. I just about didn't get that needle all the way through the pillow enough times to attach the buttons, because I was squishing all the stuffing with both hands, while also trying to guide the needle into place, put a button over it, and not gouge myself in the finger. I failed at avoiding that last part. If I make another one, I'll definitely buy a larger needle. Despite that one setback, though, it was still a quick and fun project.

Kent and some of his little friends got to play on it today, since we had a few kids over so that their parents could go out on dates. There were four kids in all, which was a great number for Jack and me to handle. Six families are involved, though, so when it's our turn again, we might have six little ones to chase around. In any case, the pillow was a big hit, particularly when we were reading books with the kids, and Kent loves being able to fit his whole self on it when he gets to have it all to himself.

I love being able to fit almost *my* whole self on it. And when I told Jack last night that he needed to try it out, he remarked, "Oh, this is dangerous..." as he was lying down, and he just about didn't get back up. It's a great movie pillow, book-nook pillow, party pillow, family-on-the-floor-for-a-ticklefest pillow... you get the idea. Versatile and comfy.

Yes, I think we definitely need another couple of these around. And next time, I'll make sure Jack is around to help me wrestle the giant pillow form into the case, because that part was almost as terrible as attaching the buttons.

Labels: craftiness, photography

• posted by erica 5/09/2009 10:31:00 PM
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