Today I want to show you the before and after of the Flower Power Pillow (ravelry link) in the Spring 2010 issue of Interweave Crochet. As with the Kaleidoscope Eyes Mat (ravelry link), I made this project twice. Again, in my version, I was working with scraps. Generally when I have time to make something for fun, I go dig around in the Rubbermaid tubs where my stash lives to see if I have enough of any one yarn to make something. I found a few leftover colors of Cascade 220 Superwash from my book, and decided to design a pillow.

Here’s what I came up with– my first draft is the orange and turquoise version on the right (a combination I still love), the finished version is on the left, made with Valley Yarns Southwick from Webs. I really loved the yarn they sent– it was lovely to work with, affordable, and comes in many colors. I think there are a number of great worsted weight yarns you can try out for this pillow that will substitute quite well.

Here are the back sides of the pillow, which differ only slightly. My first pillow (left) has a striped back because I was working with scraps. While I toyed with striping the back of the pattern, I felt like the best “design” decision was to go with a solid color (my original decision was based on yarn amounts). But, since the pattern only uses a tiny bit of the colors which make up the center of the flower, you can definitely stripe the back of your pillow if you’d like to buy less yarn. Both times, I made the case removable by adding buttons on the back side–this way you can wash it if necessary–provided you choose a washable yarn, of course.

One thing I did to add some polish to the final pillow was cover the pillow form. The color of the pillow will show through, so I recommend that you either buy a solid colored throw pillow or sew up a simple cover for your form. To make one, just cut two 16.75″ squares from quilting cotton. Stack them with their wrong sides facing each other and pin them together. You will want to leave about 10″ open in the center of one side.  Sew around the square (leaving the opening as mentioned), turn it inside out, and press the square. Be sure to turn out the corners really well before you insert the pillow form. One thing I like to do is stuff my corners with a  little extra polyester fiberfill before inserting the form, to keep it really stuffed and structured. Insert the 16″ pillow form, then hand stitch the opening shut.

If you make this, I encourage you to take your completed front with you to the fabric store when you pick out the color you’d like to use for your pillow case. I used a bright green to make the colors pop, but I would have picked something totally different had I not taken my crocheted pillow with me.

I hope to see lots of these pillows made up–it really is a pretty easy project, an adds such fun color to any couch or chair.  Be sure to let me know if you make one!