Christmas Crafty Pillow

Yes, Christmas is over. But I thought I'd share the poinsettia pillow I made for my Aunt for Christmas. It was very simple and I can see myself making several variations of it so it isnt just a Christmas-only decoration.

I started out picking a pillow from the fabric store. Once you choose your pillow, you can determine how much fabric you will need. I was lucky and found a remnant that worked perfectly. Its a sort of suede-like material. Next I picked up red and green felt squares and after much deliberation-and multiple trips to the store- I finally chose beads that I wanted to use.

Since I only had about an hour for this project and it isnt an article of clothing, I opted out of washing and drying the fabric. I instead ironed out the fold creases. Always start with ironed fabric before cutting. I laid my pillow on the fabric and cut two squares, giving myself extra room for seam allowances, about 1/4 inch. Lay right sides of fabric (the sides you want showing on the outside when your pillow is complete) together and pin three sides. Sew three sides together. Flip right-side out. Take your felt squares and cut out your leaves and petals and lay them on the pillow or fabric to see how you want them to lay.

After three of four attempts of trying to hand sew through all the layers of felt to attach it to the fabric-while also bending my needle!- I ended up stitching them on one layer at a time. I did the petals first attached the leaves last in case the petals shifted. Next I sewed on the beads in the center of the smallest petals. Once the flower was complete, I stuffed the pillow inside it's new case. It was incredibly snug and I couldnt even get the fourth side closed. I had a baby melt down and then decided to remove the polyfil from the pillow and hand stuff it into the case. To do this, I flipped the case inside out again (carefully) and sewed the fourth side closed, leaving 3 or 4 inches to stuff. Once the pillow is completely stuffed, you must hand stitch the rest of the opening closed. I'm not going to lie, its something I need practice on. But it being my first pillow, I was pleased with how it came out. : )

My Aunt loved it. She thinks I could-and should-sell them. From her mouth to God's ears. hehe

Happy creating!

Loves,
~Kels