To rest our rings on

I've previously written about my attempt to make a beautiful, Martha Stewart ring pillow. At least, the flower part.

The flower still isn't finished, but I did finish the part of the project I totally understand: the pillow!

Sure, I could have just bought a pillow somewhere, but I was at Jo-Ann fabrics with Mr. Oyster, when he mentioned the remnants section. Despite my owning a sewing machine and actually knowing how to sew, Mr. Oyster is the one that visits Jo-Ann quite a bit, usually for his art projects or for his students. How could I not have remembered the remnants?! And so, this is the story of how I made a ring pillow for about $5.

I found a 23" scrap of some cheap muslin, bought a little bag of fiberfill, and scraps of some beautiful mauve pin-tucked satin. And did I mention... the remnants were half off that day!

The pillow itself was the easiest part. I used a piece of printer paper folded in a square as a "pattern," and sewed this sucker together, turned it inside out, stuffed it with fiberfill, and basted. Et voila! A pillow. Here it is with a pair of fabric scissors on it so you can see the size; it's an 8 1/2" square (because that is the width of printer paper).

Now, on to the pillowcase. I didn't use a pattern for this, either; I just turned the satin inside out, put the pillow on it, and drew with a pencil. I used two pieces of fabric for the back, because I wanted the pillowcase to have a pocket. Also, having a removable pillowcase will make it easier when I attach the Martha Stewart flower.

So, I put the pillow in the case, and there you go! I tried valiantly to match the pintucks; I failed miserably but guess what -- no one will know. I love my $5 remnant pillow! (Sorry for the different colors; it's irridescent and a trick of the lighting.)

I am proud of this pillow, mostly because (a) I didn't plan on making it, but it turned out to be so unexpectedly easy and (b) I love a good deal.