These make really cute throw pillows for your sofa (in fact, the first pair I made were promptly "rescued" by my mum from my sofa :P), but they would also be good as simple toys for young children (just think of all the orphaned Dora the Explorer and Bob the Builder pillow cases languishing in your local thrift store!). If you can find 80's character pillow cases, they make fun retro gifts, too.
- Materials:
- An old pillowcase with a character or image you like that is large enough to be made into a small throw pillow/stuffed critter (you can use sheets, too, or anything that has a large print on it)
- A soft fabric (like alova suede, jersey, fleece, or even felt) to use for the back of your pillow; enough to cover the back of your chosen design
- Polyfil or material of your choice for stuffing
- A good pair of scissors for cutting fabric
- Straight pins
- Thread, and a sewing needle or (preferably) a sewing machine
Optional:
- Fabric markers, fabric paints, or acryllic paints w/textile medium for brightening up faded colours
- Beads, sequins, embroidery floss, buttons, rick-rack, or any other items you would like to embellish your creation with
Here's a picture of the supplies I used:
Please note that the Rainbow Brite pillow case pictured above is not the pillow case I used to make the pillow pal in this tutorial. I forgot to take a picture of that pillow case before I cut it, so I'm showing the Rainbow Brite one to give you an idea of the kind of pillow case you would want to use.
Okay, ready? Here we go! ^_^
The first thing you should do is choose your design. You can use anything you want, but there are a couple things to keep in mind:
1. Make sure the image you want to use is big enough for your intended purpose. 2. Make sure that you can cut your chosen design out with at least a half inch border around it, and that the shape isn't too complicated or detailed. Sewing around a lot of sharp corners and angles wouldn't be very much fun, and wouldn't make a very nice looking stuffed pal in the long run. So simple, rounded shapes are best. If you want to use a more complicated image, consider cutting it out in circle instead of trying to follow the shape of the image.
Now that you've chosen your image, go ahead and cut it out:
Don't forget to leave yourself a border around the edges, at least 1/2" or so. You need that for seam allowance when you sew the parts together. :)
Now you can have fun and embellish your future pillow pal! As you can see from the photos, Mr. Lion is kind of faded from being so old, so I used fabric markers to brighten up his colours and re-define his edges. You can really go nuts here and do anything you like: embroider details onto the design, sew buttons on, add googly eyes, get fancy with beads or sequins, whatever you want! However, if you're planning to give your pillow pal to a baby or young child, or if it will be in a place where pets could access it, please don't use buttons, sequins, beads, or anything that could be a choking hazard if ingested.
If you used fabric markers or paints, make sure to follow the directions for them. You may need to iron your fabric to heat set your colours if you want them to withstand being washed.
Anyway, here is Mr. Lion after his fabric marker make-over:
Much better, don't you think? ^^
Now you're ready to pin your backing fabric to your design piece. Cut a square of your backing fabric that is large enough to cover your design, plus some extra. Place your design and the backing fabric together with good sides facing, and pin in place.
Sew around your design, but leave an opening large enough for you to be able to turn and stuff your pillow pal. You will sew this opening shut by hand later, so if you aren't a tidy hand-stitcher, you can leave the opening in an inconspicuous place.
Once you have your backing and design sewed together, trim the excess backing fabric away with your scissors. Be careful not to cut any of your stitching, and don't trim too close to the stitch line...you still want a seam allowance of at least a half inch.
If your design has curves and corners like Mr. Lion does, you can clip the corners and curves so they will look better when it's turned around. At corners, cut slits diagonally as close to the stitch line as you can without cutting through it. For curves, cut straight slits every inch or so, close to the stitch line but not cutting through it.
Now it's time to turn your pal right side out!
Lookie there...Mr. Lion lost a few inches around his middle! And I forgot to turn out one of his back legs, lol. ^^;
We're almost done now...it's time to stuff your pillow pal! Using pieces of polyfil that aren't too small or too big, start stuffing at the point furthest away from your opening. You can use a chopstick, knitting needle, or whatever you have handy to help push stuffing in if you want. Don't wad up or compress your stuffing when you're inserting it, though...that would make your pillow pal gross and lumpy-looking. :( You can stuff your pal as firmly or as softly as you like. Here's how Mr. Lion looked after being stuffed:
Once you are satisfied with the way your pal looks, all you need to do is sew up the opening you used to insert stuffing, and you're done!
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