Using felt, fabric glue and a pre-made pillow cover you can create a suzani pillow
for only a few dollars.
Suzani, a form of traditional embroidered textile from Central Asia , now adorn the sofas
and beds of many Americans. Suzani shapes - like wheels, flowers, leaves and scrolling
borders - are showing up on everything. The bright colors and intricate motifs go with
modern and traditional decorating styles.
has a series of articles and provides the free downloadable templates
for creating the suzani shapes. All you have to do is trace, cut and glue.
For this project you will need the following materials:
- A 24" square pillow form. (A smaller pillow can be used but you will have to adjust the template accordingly.)
- A 24" square solid color pillow cover ( a felt pillow cover would be best).
( Instructions for making this pillow cover are posted here )
- White felt, at least 22 inches square
- Fuchsia felt, at least 10 inches square
- Pink felt, at least 10 inches square
- Yellow felt, about 10 inches square
- Fabric glue (fusible web interfacing can be used as an alternative)
- A piece of paper at least 22 inches square.
Download and print the following templates and
follow the instructions in each article for creating your felt pieces.
Center the medium (pink) suzani flower in the center of the large (fushia) suzani flower
and adhere with fabric glue.
Find the center point of your pillow front and glue
the large flower so that is centered on the pillow.
Place the suzani circle (white) around the flower and center.
Fold over half of the circle and apply glue.
Lay the circle back down and adhere the pillow cover.
Do the same with the second half of the white circle.
Place one small pink flower and two yellow flourishes in each corner of the pillow.
Glue down each piece.
Allow the glue to dry.
Set the pillow up to see if any edges need more glue.
You are finished. Enjoy your custom pillow!
(tutorial via Design Sponge)
