Wedding DIY – Elegant Silk Flower Pillow

What you will need

• 40cm silk dupion*
• 30 cm stiff tulle
• Polyester filling
• 50cm X 3mm satin ribbon
• Pinking shears
• Spray starch
• Sewing material**

How to create

1. Make the pillow the same size as pillows above. Fill with polyester and slipstitch the opening closed before making the flower.
2. To make the flower, spray silk fabric with spray starch and iron dry.
3. Download the template and cut out the fabric as follows
   • Piece A - cut a 15cm square of both silk and tulle
   • Piece B - cut two18cm squares of both silk and tulle
   • Piece C - cut two 20cm squares of both silk and tulle
   • Piece D - cut a 22cm square of both silk and tulle
4. Fold them all into eighths. Trace templates onto fabrics with chalk and cut out with pinking shears.
5. Open out, and with a needle and thread, run a gathering stitch around the centre circle and pull the thread to gather the fabric. Do a double stitch to secure. Follow the same procedure with all the petals.
6. Once all the fabric flower layers are gathered, place them on top of one another starting with the largest silk layer first followed by a tulle layer, then a silk layer and so on. Use a large needle to sew all the layers together before attaching to the cushion. Sew the flower onto the cushion with a double thread making sure to push the needle right through the cushion to the other side. Do this a few times to be certain the flower is securely attached. Finish off with a double stitch on the back of the cushion and cover with a button to hide any threads.
7. Sew the narrow satin ribbon to the centre of the flower for the rings to be tied to on the wedding day.

* You can vary or mix the fabric colours depending on the effect you want. Pink and white flower cushion (shown) was a mixture of baby pink and ivory fabrics.
** A rotary cutter and cutting mat make the job a lot easier but are not essential.

Wedding bands available from www.gsjewellers.com.au

All fabrics and materials are available from www.spotlight.com.au

TIP: If you have any concerns about the ring bearer dropping the cushion, sew an extra piece of ribbon in the shape of a loop on the back of the cushion for the pageboy to slip his hand through.