In the honor of the first snow of the season, the Iron Crafters were asked to make something using the color white. I had to think about this one a bit before I decided I wanted to make something with the quantity of white buttons I had in my stash. The other inspiration for my project was the fact I need to make covers for our throw pillows, the ones we have are not the right colors for the new loft.

Once I had cut the fabric for the pillow, I played with different ways of laying out the buttons. Finally, I decided a simple stripe down the middle gave the cleanest, most striking look. I’m really happy how the finished pillow looks on the couch.

This is not a difficult project by any means, anyone with who can sew a straight line can make it. The hardest part is laying out the buttons in nice straight lines. Just take your time, use a ruler and do the glue step before sewing.

Button Pillow

Supplies:
sturdy fabric to make pillow, I used two 14″ x 14″ pieces of wool felt
buttons, I used 100
tread, to match buttons and pillow fabric (It would also be fun to sew the buttons on with a contrasting thread, I contemplated doing mine in red or orange.)
pillow insert

Tools:
scissors
ruler
dressmakers chalk or pen
glue, such as tacky glue
hand sewing needle
pins
sewing machine (optional)

1. Cut two square from your fabric the size of your pillow insert. So, for my 14″ x 14″ insert I cut 14′ x 14″ squares. This is what gives you a nice full pillow.

2. Use a ruler and dressmakers marker to mark a straight line down the middle of the pillow front. Use that line to lay the buttons out in straight lines, two on either side of the line you drew

Make sure to leave about 3/4″ space on each edge for sewing the pillow together.

3. Once the buttons are the way you like them glue them into place. Just a dot or two of glue is needed, try to keep the glue out of the button holes. Let dry. (This might seem unnecessary, but it really does make it easier to sew the buttons on and have everything stay in place.)

4. Sew the buttons in place. You don’t need to knot off and restart for each button, just keep working down the lines.

5. Assemble the pillow by pinning the two pieces of fabric together with the right sides facing in. Sew three sides together with a 1/2″ seam allowance. Turn right side out working the corners out the best you can. Put the pillow insert inside and hand sew the last side shut.