Ring Bearer Pillow in Dupioni Silk Tutorial

By lilsprinkles On March 23, 2012 · Leave a Comment

I made a ring bearer pillow for a dear friend of mine who is getting married in May. I wanted to do a tute on this, so I made an extra effort to stop, take pics, and then continue along. This was hard to do, especially when I was on a time crunch to finish this!

The bride to be requested a white pillow with a fuchsia bow. Her wedding colors are gunmetal, fuchsia, and white…ooh la la! I didn’t know Joanns sold dupioni silk. Quite pricey at 29.99/yard but if you have a 50% coupon, it’s worth going there then having to drive far. I considered fabric.com, but it’s hard to go that route if you’re looking for a specific color. Joanns didn’t carry fuchsia dupioni silk, but they suggested polyester shantung which is similar in look.

If you’re looking to make a simple square ring bearer pillow with a bow, here is the tutorial!

Materials:

Two 8.5″ square piece of fabric (I used white dupioni silk)
Two 2″ x 16″ piece of contrasting fabric (I used fuchsia polyester shantung)
Two 18″ ribbon in 1/8″ width (I used white Offray ribbon)
One 8 3/4″ satin ribbon in 7/8″ width (I used white Offray ribbon) ~ optional
One fabric covered button ~ optional
Thread + Embroidery Needle
Polyfil

Step 1: Heat treat the edges of the “bow” which in this case is the fuchsia strips. I did not sew the shantung in any way. I simply cut it to my desired length and just heat treated the edges with my trusty lighter so that it wouldn’t fray and look all ugly!

Left side is my fabric piece I will be using and the right small piece is just an example of what it could look like if not heat treated. Please use caution when using a flame against your fabric. A little goes a long way. Just be quick about running the flame against the edge because fabric catches fire rather quickly, so if it’s your first time…go near a sink when doing this step.

Step 2: Sandwich your pillow – Lay one 8.5″ fabric right side facing up. Lay your contrasting strips one on either side of the edge. Mine were long so I had to fold them in the middle. Next lay your 8 3/4″ ribbon (added this in so the ring boy can carry the pillow by slipping his hand through). Lay your other 8.5″ piece right side facing towards your sandwich. Like so…

Step 3: Sew along the edges with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Be sure to leave a small opening so that you can flip your pillow inside out. I made a small mark to remind me…

Step 4: Cut the edges of the corners so that when you flip your pillow, your corners don’t look bunchy.

Step 5: Flip inside out. Sorry only got a shot of the back view of the pillow…

Step 6: Stuff your pillow with some poly fil.

Step 7: Do an invisible stitch to close the hole you left to flip the pillow.

Step 8: If you want to add a button to give it a tuft look, follow along. Optional~Pictured above is the fabric cover button tool kit which can be purchased at Joanns.

Step 9: Get your embroidery needle and thread your needle through both of the thin ribbons which is going to be used to hold the actual rings. Make sure to knot your thread really well because you will need to pull the needle taut in order to get the tuft look. Pull it through the hole of the fabric covered button and insert it in the middle of the pillow. Sorry I didn’t take any pics of me actually sewing the button on but it’s not too difficult as long as your thread is secure. My picture below shows the wrong thread. I learned my lesson…had to switch to embroidery thread. Keep pulling at your thread as you sew along to get that tuft look.

Step 10: Once your button is securely sewn on. All you have left to do is to tie your bow. This took some practice. It’s hard making a perfect bow! I also had to clean up some of the edges of the bow as well too. The flipping and then the sewing took a toll on the fabric strips. If your strips are too long, just cut a clean line to shorten them and then heat treat the ends.

Voila!