Oversized Rosette Pillow

Rosettes have been floating around out there for a long while now, and I must say while I think they are completely fabulous, I hadn't really tried my hand at anything similar. I had played around with the shapes using ribbon and what not, but had never settled on a reason for needing them, nor was I completely satisfied with how mine turned out. All of this changed, however, when I decided what I needed for my couch was just one more pillow. I wanted a small pillow that had a lot of character, and I settled on this:

For obvious reasons I have been calling it my GIANT rosette pillow. While the pillow only measures about 10inx10in, the rosette is still close to 10 inches in diameter. With just a little thread, needle, leftover fabric and hot glue (of course!) it was very simple to create.

First I hand stitched a pillow 10in x 1oin and filled it with cheap Walmart stuffing, ($3.00). The thing I like about this pillow that it is made from upholstery grade fabric left over from a rocker I upholstered. Just being slightly thicker than other fabrics I have used in the past, it give the rosette some added depth I think.

Next, I cut my remaining fabric into 2 inch strips. The rosette took SEVERAL of these to complete.

With the strips cut, I began the rosette by kind of rolling the outsides of the fabric together to create a sort of fabric tube. This made the 'petals' a little more voluminous.

Next, I just began rolling the fabric inward, twisting it as I went. You have probably seen a lot of tutorials on how to best achieve this. I cannot say that I really used any one technique, but more just went with the flow. This is where, for me, the hot glue came it. I do not proclaim to be a seamstress. Hand stitching a pillow is about as good as it gets. Therefore, I was left with other adhesive options for securing my rosette, and turned to hot glue. I do not have a picture of the places where I put hot glue. I can just say its easiest to to dab a bit, around the bottom of the rosette petals, about every inch or so. As the rosette gets bigger, it works best to apply the hot glue in thin strips around the bottom of the fabric.

When the rosette became to large to hold, I then attached it to the pillow (using hot glue, I know I am a cheater!). I secured it to the pillow with hot glue in many places, pulling at the rosette as I went to test for stability.

Below is a picture of the where I got my fabric inspiration. While the colors in this great fabric matching NOTHING else in my living room, the play off of each other from across the room. Now the fabric choice seems to make a little more sense. (And trust me, they are not staying together, that matchiness would probably just eat me alive!)

I can't wait to share with you how I rescued this antique rocker, along with some other upholstery ideas in the next few weeks.

Hope you enjoyed my 'late on the scene' version of the rosette!

I will be linking to this week's CSI pillow challenge! Hope to see you there...