Fleece Sunflower Pillow Tutorial

I was inspired by the fleece pillow tutorial I posted about over the weekend, and I had this vision of a sunflower version I could not wait to try.  So, while Joann's was having their blizzard fleece solids super cheap, plus the extra 25% off your entire purchase ($3/yd!!), I ran up there 30 minutes before closing and got the supplies.  Then, it took me until today to complete my masterpiece because I've been awake for the last 3 days with my poor 2 year old and her nasty stomach bug.  Toddlers and puking do not go well with anything.    

I have to say, I love how this came out.  Even my almost 13 year old liked it, and that's saying something!  Woohoo!  The only thing I'd change was that I used a mustard yellow fleece and I'd probably do it in a brighter yellow if it was for a child's room.  This darker yellow just gives me harvest gold 1970s afghan on the back of the couch vibes.   It's perfect for a hipster's couch ;).

Below is the tutorial, I will make it into a printable PDF and put it on my website and Craftsy.com later today.  For the time being, you can download my petal template at the link under the materials list.  

Materials:     

1 yd of yellow fleece

1/8 yd of orange fleece

1/8 yd of brown fleece

¼ yd of black fleece

½ lb of Polyfil stuffing

Hot glue gun

Hot glue

Pinking shears

Thread

Sewing machine

Find the Petal Pattern here.

Instructions:

1.       Take a large dinner plate and trace it (roughly 14 inches in diameter).  Then, using the template cut out two circles of yellow fleece.

2.       With WRONG SIDES TOGETHER, using a ½ inch seam allowance, sew around the circles, leaving a 3-4 inch opening.  This could also be done with hot glue. 

3.       Stuff the pillow until satisfied with it’s shape, then sew the opening closed. 

4.       Pink the edges of the seam to get a uniform look.

5.       Cut 3 strips of the fleece 4 inches in length by the entire width of the fabric (usually about 60 inches).  Cut petals from the yellow fleece.  You need enough petals to make three rows.  The pattern piece is at the top of these instructions. 

6.       Using pinking shears, cut circles about 1.5 inches in diameter from the orange, brown, and black fleece.  You will need 3 or 4 times more black circles than orange and brown.  They do not need to be perfect circles. 

7.        Begin with the petals.  First, take a handful of petals and put a 1 inch line down the middle back and fold them in half as shown. 

8.        Then, when they have dried a little, I take one at time and add glue at the edge and a dot at the end of the line I previously made and glue them to the pillow.

 

9.       Place the glued edge of the petals about 1.5 inches above the pinked seam.  Begin overlapping the petals just slightly as shown in the picture. Complete an entire circle of petals.

 

10.    The second row will be placed about 1.5 inches above the glued edge of the first row as shown in the picture.  Then, the third row will be about 1 to 1.5 inches above the second row’s glued edge. 

 

11.    Take the orange circles, place some hot glue in the center and then pinch them into a trifold as shown.  Then, begin gluing them in place around the raw edge of the inner most petal circle until they are an entire circle around the petal edges as shown. 

12.    Next, make trifold circles from the brown and begin interspersing them between the orange circles as shown. 

13.    Then, begin the next inner circle with both black and brown trifold circles, as shown.

14.    Lastly, fill in the rest of the inner most part of the flower with black trifold circles until you cannot see anymore yellow underneath.

 

And you’re done!!