Pocket Pillow Swap

Just a tiny little taupe vintage suitcase pocket…

Filled with an old French letter…

My AMAZINGLY TALENTED (adopted) sister Sandy Navarro is hosting a Vintage Pocket Pillow Swap for the up coming Moulin Rouge Art Event. With the help of my friend Jan Arnmtrout I have completed my pillow & now have to design my presentation so I can ship this little treasure out to Sandy ahead of the event.

In case you haven’t see one of these in the Stampington Magazines or out in Blogland here is the theory… You take the pocket out of a vintage suitcase, attach it to an embellished pillow & fill the pocket with treasures. My first plan was to use tea dyed bridal fabric but, my swap partner Robin Sanchez loves burlap. And once I found that out… the bridal fabric wasn’t going to work. So… I went in search of a more rustic fabric. I settled on a much washed/distressed painters drop cloth (there is a HUGE difference in quality/texture of these so find one you like, mine turned out soft & the perfect color after much washing). Next, I did a transfer of part of my beautiful French Themed Blog Banner onto soft linen & applied it to the pillow. I did try the CitraSolv method of transfer that many of you are using (Robin used it on the pillow she made for me & you can go HERE to see that post) but, it did NOT work for me.

Next was the ruffles… This is where sweet Jan & 4 sewing machine needles later… we got the PERFECT RUFFLES! First layer of ruffle is the drop cloth fabric itself. Second step is BURLAP… hand ruffled. Then a double layer of vintage tea dyed wedding underskirt from my sweet buddy Cindy Craine of Lilly’s Lace. And last but, not least… the vintage crocheted edge off of a pillowcase purchased from Linda of Itsy Bits & Pieces Etsy Shop.

The next little piece of “goody” is two velvet petals off of an old hat. I took the hat apart. I kept all the little pieces & two of them seemed to work for the pocket corner. A BIG dark colored Mother of Pearl button is topped with a beautiful taupe colored carved MOP button for a beautiful finish to this. Also, peaking out of the pocket is a tiny vintage perfume bottle with a blue lid (Robin’s bedroom has just been redone in blue so I wanted just a touch… the blue bottle top & stamp on the envelope seemed just right). The bottle is filled with a mix of gold & silver German Glass Glitter. I am really loving the whole look.

This shows the back of the pillow with vintage images all printed on linen. The images are of the Moulin Rouge button from the event, a vintage image of Moulin Rouge/Windmill & two Can Can girls. Along the gathering line I ruffled a beautiful brown vintage seam binding LOVING the look it gives. Another cream colored velvet flower & a few vintage buttons & she’s done(well OK I do have to come up with presentation but… basically she’s done). Sorry the photos are a bit sepia toned but, they are taken in my guestroom on the duvet in there & the light is less than perfect. Flash seems to make the colors glare, someday I will take some photography classes & learn how to deal with this better. I didn’t want to wait for “just right conditions” outside. I WANTED TO SHARE! Hope you like my creation. And I hope Robin LOVES it. It’s girlie like me with a burlap twist like her. It’s so much fun to make new friends & learn to work outside of YOUR BOX.

HUGS! Charlene