Gather Your Roses - Pillow Tutorial

My inspiration came from this Rosette pillow from Anthropologie ($58). 

It is really simple to make and adds a very elegant touch to any room.  Ready?  This is how I did it -

Step one:  Cut out a 22" square for the front (the larger you make the front the more "gathery" it will be) and a 17" square for the back.  

Step two:  Using a basting stitch, stitch around all four sides of the front - gathering it to 17" as you go.

Step three:  Pin the gathered front to the back, right sides together.

Step four:  Stitch around (1/2" seam) leaving about a 10" opening in the center of the bottom edge

Step five:  Turn it inside out - the top will be loose like this:

Step six:  Stuff the pillow with your 17" pillow form

Step seven:  Pin the closing

Step eight:  Gather the loose fabric on the front into the center, forming a pouf - wrap a rubber band around it.

Step nine:  Using a needle and thread, hand gather below the rubber band, pulling the thread tight as you go.  

Step ten:  Once you feel it is securely gathered, remove the rubber band and poof out the rosette.  Hand tack the edges of the rosette to the pillow.

Step eleven:  Lastly hand-tack the opening closed and toss it on a bed!