You can make this Pottery Barn Knock-Off Christmas Pillow in any color to match your Christmas decor. Such a fun project!
I actually have bucket loads of Christmas decor. But every year I find new awesome projects that I just have to make. What can I say, I love decorating for Christmas!! One thing I don’t have is Christmas pillows for my living room couch. So I knew just what I needed to make for this collaboration. By the way, have you seen how many gorgeous Christmas pillows there are out there? It was seriously hard for me to pick one. I think I’m going to have to make a few more. But first things first. 😉 I found this pillow on the Pottery Barn website.
(photo from Pottery Barn)
Thought it was lovely. But I wanted one that looked a little more festive. Plus I knew that since it would be going on my chocolate brown leather couch, it needed a pop of color. So I decided to make my own. This is what I came up with:
I love how it turned out, but I wish I would have made the wreath a little smaller. I have adjusted the instructions so that it doesn’t go so close to the edge.
Pottery Barn Knock-Off Christmas Pillow
Supplies:
About 1/4 yard of green felt (or color of your choice)
One 16″ pillow form and a pillow slipcover (or you can just make a pillow)
Buttons, pom-poms, or other embellishment for berries
Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
Fabric scissors
Sewing machine and thread
Instructions:
Cut a whole bunch of leaves out of felt. My leaves were approximately 2 inches long, and I used about 80 of them. They do not all need to be exactly the same size.
Now it’s time to add that little vein to the leaf. Totally optional step, but I think it adds a lot to the look. You can hand stitch the line but I used my machine. Here’s how I did it:
Pick a thread that is slightly darker than your felt. Place your needle close to the back of the leaf. It can’t be right on the edge or it bunches up when you start stitching.
Sew about 2/3- 3/4 of the way across the leaf.
Now use your reverse button and stitch backwards all the way to the end of the leaf.
Leave about 1″ of thread at the end.
Repeat the process until you have all of the leaves done. It’s probably a good idea to have snacks on hand. It takes awhile. I ate chocolate, but you can use your weapon of choice. 😉
For this next part, I’m going to tell you how I wish I would have done it. Take a dinner plate and place it in the middle of your pillow fabric. Trace around it to make a circle guide for the wreath. I didn’t think my plate was big enough, so I traced around it 1″ out. That was a mistake. I think my pillow would have looked better if the wreath wasn’t so close to the edge. So don’t be like me. Just trace the dang plate!
Now you are ready to form your wreath. Here is where that 1″ of extra thread on the end comes in handy. Rather than tying knots in all of them, just fold the threads over to the back and add some hot glue.
Now flip it over and attach it to your pillow. I worked from left to right so I could cover up the end of the first leaf with the second and so forth.
Keep adding leaves, using your pencil line as a guide.
I went all the way around my circle adding the two layers.
Then I went back and filled in the center.
Pottery Barn used pom poms for their wreath, but I didn’t like the color of red pom-poms I found, so I decided to use buttons instead. You can use whatever you like. I simply arranged them how I liked, then went back and attached them with a bit of hot glue.
Now all you gotta do is put in your pillow form, and you’re all done. 🙂
Jan Novakovic
Hi Kara, Do you have a printer friendly version with pics of this pattern?
Thanks
Jan
Kara Cook
No, I haven’t converted any of my instructions into PDF patterns. Sorry.
Shirley
I love this but am sewing the buttons on as well.
Kara Cook
That is a great idea Shirley!
Maryann Bradshaw
Love the style of this pillow but I would like someway to be able to wash it. Any suggestions?
Kara Cook
I’ve never washed mine, but you could try carefully washing it in cold water. I would just line dry it, then carefully iron out any wrinkles with a warm iron. Hopefully it works!
Carol
Oh this turned out great! Love it.
Kara Cook
Thanks so much Carol!
Deborah Lennington
Charming! I’m trying to talk myself into attempting this. Thanks for the tips too!
Jessica @ A Humble Creation
Hi Kara,
Your pillow is one of my favorite Christmas pillows I’ve ever seen! I wish I had discovered this tutorial sooner, but I’ve pinned it for next year. Well, with all of those leaves I may start now. Thanks! I’m following you.
Kaysi @ Keeping It Simple
I love love LOVE this!!!!
brandi
Your pillow is gorgeous! I love your version! Your did such a beautiful job!
April
love it! you did a great job! Pinning this for later!
Bonnie
Beautiful pillow! PB should hire you to design for them. I would add a safety feature to the pattern if you have small children in the house over the holidays, sew the buttons instead of using a glue gun. Might keep them on the pillow and not in a toddlers mouth.
brandy
This is BEAUTIFUL! I am featuring it this week. Thank you for linking up to my party last week!
Natasha @ Keeping The Christmas Spirit Alive, 365
I agree with everyone else-your cushion looks amazing and way better than the PB version. You are so clever!
Best wishes,
Natasha.
Jen
Hey, thanks for linking up!
Marie
lovely! may i ask why you needed the folded over 1 inch thread on the backside-could you do without?
Kara Cook
You don’t want the thread showing, and if you clip the thread it can unravel. Since you have to use glue on the back of the leaf anyway, folding the thread down is the easiest option. š
Kaitlin
This looks wonderful! I can’t wait to make one for myself! Great job- and it looks better than Pottery Barn, if you ask me! š
-Kait
Kara
Thanks so much Kaitlin! If you make one, I’d love to see it. š
Allie
Kara, I found this on positively splendid! I love it! Very well done. The buttons are fun, too. Good call. š
Kara
Glad you found me over at PS. Any friend of Amy’s is a friend of mine! Glad you like the pillow–thanks!! š
Cynthia
You did an awesome job on that!
Kara
Thanks so much Cynthia! Can’t wait till I can actually use it. š
Becky D
Oh my goodness! I LOVE this! I like it better than the PB pillow! Thanks for sharing š
Kara
Thanks so much Becky!
Jen
This is great! I think I might just give this a whirl. I really like that you used buttons as the berries on the pillow. Hey, I’d be thrilled if you came and linked this up to the Head to Head Showdown going on right now at http://www.icantstopcrafting.blogspot.com
~Jen
Kara
Thanks so much for the invite Jen! I just linked up. š
evie @ brown paper packages
Great job! It looks fantastic….great inspiration for the rest of us! Thank you for sharing!!
evie
Kara
Thanks so much Evie! It means a lot coming from you, because I think pretty much every project you ever post is amazing!! š
Alison
LOVE this Kara! A million times better than Pottery Barn!
Kara
Aw, thanks Alison!!
Janet
I love your pillow and the colors look so nice. Thanks for taking the time to post a tutorial!
Kara
Thanks so much Janet!
LollyJane
Beautiful! I love that you added color to it š Great winter pillow!
Amy
This is really beautiful Kara!
xoxo,
Amy
Kara
Thanks Amy! That means a lot coming from the queen of cute pillows. š
Melinda
So cute! I love it.
somedaycrafts
Super cute! I love your version.
Kara
Thanks Michelle! Knock-off projects are always fun. š
Michelle
Beautiful, I’m definately going to try this! Thanks for sharing!
Kara
Let me know how it turns out! I’d love to see it. š
Kerri
Love it! Can’t wait to make one!
Amy @ Positively Splendid
This is terrific, Kara!! I think I like yours even more than the original!
Kara
Aw shucks, thanks Amy. š