Gucci Pillow Project

For my 24th birthday, I am celebrating with a party that is inspired by one of my favorite designer fashion houses: GUCCI!

I have been working on a tooooon of DIY projects for this party to transform my 1,000 sq ft 1940s college-town apartment into the Gucci Pop Up Party Experience of my dreams. One of the first projects I completed was making new pillow cases for the throw pillows on my sofa. Inspired by Gucci’s 2019 home decor collection, I decided to go full-maximalist with a mix of mismatched eccentric pillows.

As always, I wanted to do this project as sustainably as possible. For me, this meant focusing on using art supplies I already owned. Thankfully, I had two entire spools of brightly colored fringe I picked up at a flea market a few yers back. I started with a leopard print fabric that I picked up from a thrift store while I was in college. I loved it paired with the red fringe, so I went with it!

Even though the first pillow case was leopard print with bright red fringe, it still wasn’t “Gucci” enough. Digging through my embellishments/odd’n’ends bin, I pulled a lip shaped sequin patch that didn’t quite make the cut for my senior collection a few years back. It reminded me of a Gucci window display I had saved on my Pinterest board, and fit perfectly with the red fringe. It felt luxury yet eccentric. Fueled by the success of my first pillow, I went rampant covering the rest.

Next was a red velvet pillow case, which I adorned with handmade large black tassels created from leftover yarn. I had picked up sequin appliques that looked like film strips in a grab bag at a thrift store, and had been debating how to use them for a while. The organic ribbon shape reminded me of a snake, and with some cutting and strategic hot glue, I created a Gucci-inspired snake decal. It paired back to the leopard and red fringe pillow well, while still having a personality of it’s own.

Inspired by a velvet fabric panel with a tie-dye effect, I created a third pillow which I have entitled “Constellation.” The simple pillow is adorned with handmade yarn pom-poms and star-shaped beads. I wanted the fabric to speak for itself on this one, as the dye effect on the velvet is beautiful as-is. This pillow reminds me of something I could pick up at Anthropologie (but made sustainably, and for a lot cheaper!)

During a recent trip to Hobby Lobby, I scoured the fabric remnants. I looove the remnants section of the craft store for two reasons: 1) it’s small pieces of fabric that would usually otherwise be discarded, and 2) they are always marked at a lower price than by-the-yard fabric. I found two poly satin fabric remnants in emerald green and fuschia for about two bucks a piece. They were just over a quarter yard wide, making them the perfect size to create at least one pillowcase each. I started with the pink, and began to brainstorm.

I’ll admit, this one took me a minute. I wasn’t sure what to do with the pink fabric, but knew I had more throw pillows to cover. I sat on the idea of the pink pillow for about a week, when the critical question came to my mind: What did Gucci put on their pink pillow? A quick google search showed me a pink pillow emblazoned with a ferocious tiger. At first, I thought I’d try to buy a ready-made tiger patch and iron it on, but that route seemed costly and wasteful. In a pile of scraps in the corner, I saw the leopard print fabric I used on the first pillow. I was re-inspired, and feeling hella crafty. So my little hands got to work cutting and hand painting my own applique not of a tiger, but of a leopard. Close enough, right? I let the paint dry overnight, fringed the raw edge (hello, fur!), and sewed it to the front piece of my pillow case. I was impressed by my ingenuity, and that I made something so unique and fun. I added vintage trims to this pillow for an additional layer of maximalist detail.

I wanted to create a match-back for the pink satin pillow, as I had two of the same size throw pillow to cover. I matched the emerald green satin fabric remnant with the hot pink fringe, and immediately knew this pillow needed a strawberry. I had previously done a DIY of the Gucci strawberry print, so this pillow came together quickly. Creating another applique from fabric scraps and rhinestones I had on hand perfectly tied together the pink and green into one quirky piece that looked almost good enough to eat.

I covered some additional pillows in more simplistic metallics and velvets to balance the more unique pillows, and I am SO HAPPY with how this project came out. I can’t wait to see them all together, styled with the rest of my decor for my Gucci inspired party!