Our Ring-Bearer Pillow

Happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice and New Year to everyone! I, again, had slipped off the wagon in frequency of posts, but I assure you --- Bride Brain again is taking over, now that I am no longer belonging in a cast, and I am all about wedding planning!

The show being closed, and Christmas having been wonderful, I am really looking forward to some time to relax. But, at the same time: I need to get our wedding butts (figuratively, of course) in gear! So, a few days after Christmas, I headed down to Patrick's parents' home in Connecticut to have a Crafty Day! I had one objective: Ring-bearer pillow. 

With gorgeous inspiration from etsy like this, and this, and THIS, I was - I admit - a little intimidated by the thought of the first pillow I EVER attempt making from scratch being a focal point of our wedding ceremony. But -- Danger being my middle name -- I set off, with my FMIL guiding me. Here are the materials I gathered: A  yard or two of pretty cotton fabric I used as the base for the pillow, a button, a length of ribbon to tie the rings to the pillow, lace from my mother's and (paternal) grandmother's wedding veil and dress respectively, pillow stuffing, scissors, pins, thread and needle, and used my FMIL's sewing machine to stitch it all together.

The process began simply by cutting an 8"x8" square out of a paper bag to use as a makeshift pattern. I wanted the pillow to be roughly 7" x 7" so the pattern was cut for 8" x 8" to allow an inch for the seams. Next, I then pinned the pattern to my base fabric (I chose cotton because it was stronger to support my mom/grandmother's delicate lace), and cut two 8" x 8" squares (front/back of pillow).

Cutting out the pattern

After choosing the sections of lace I wanted to use, I arranged it on the "front" side of the pillow (one of the squares I cut). I played around with the arrangement until I was happy and then "anchored" it to the pillow using needle, thread and a few basic stitches for each piece of lace. I anchored it down, but not too tightly to allow the lace to look like it was floating almost over the pillow.  

After anchoring the lace, I decided where the button should go, and stitched that onto the pillow, along with strands of small pearl beads and other lacy details from my mother's veil. Once I was comfortable with everything being secured onto what would become the front side of the pillow, it was off to the sewing machine!

Important: I placed the two sides of the pillow (right sides or the sides you want people to see) facing each other. After pinning the corners together, I sewed it all together using the most basic stitch setting and leaving a small opening big enough to fit my hand through in one corner.  After sewing the sides together, I flipped it inside out so that the right sides are visible again.

After each of the four sides of the pillow square were sewn closed (saving that one corner to stuff the pillow with) and flipping it so that the right sides were facing out again, I stuffed the pillow. When I was doing this, I was really careful to make sure that each corner of the pillow was completely turned out and filled with stuffing.  Once I finished that, I hand stitched the opening closed and reinforced the stitches. The last step was tying the ribbon securely around the button and BAM! Ring-bearer pillow!

Finished product with my e-ring tied on!

Detail shot of the antique lace!

I am super pleased with how it came out! And Patrick was really excited to see it too. It makes me proud and happy to know that the pieces of my grandmother's and mother's wedding days will be an integral part of ours. I'm glad I dove into the project, and was lucky enough to have this as my outcome! I can't wait to show my mother and grandmother!

Best,

Micah