From your main color of fleece, cut one 24″ square and two 24″ x 14″ rectangles.
Trace and cut out your numbers onto your paper-backed fusible web. I used my a Graduate Font along with my Silhouette Cameo to cut out my numbers. Remember to cut/trace your numbers IN REVERSE. (The photo doesn’t look reversed because 3 is symmetrical.) You can download the font here for free. If you don’t have a silhouette, don’t worry. You can print yours out on paper and trace it in reverse onto your paper-backed fusible web. My letters are sized at just under 12″ high.
Iron your paper-backed fusible stick to the BACK side of the fleece you’ve chosen for your letters and cut out again. Peel off the backing. Be sure your iron is on a POLYESTER setting and test on a bit of your fleece first. Fleece will burn/melt if your iron is too hot.
Position your the outer number piece first, making sure it’s centered on your pillow square. Iron well until edges are sealed. Be sure your iron is on a POLYESTER setting and test on a bit of your fleece first. Fleece will burn/melt if your iron is too hot. It will take some time for the heat to make it through the thick fleece, but you do NOT want to turn your iron up too high.
Add your inner number piece and iron well.
Cut a piece of Smooth Fusible Fleece slightly larger than your number. Iron onto the BACK of your fleece. Again, you will want to use a polyester setting and it may take a little time, but you do NOT want to turn your iron up too hot. The Smooth Fusible Fleece will keep the fleece from bunching up when we do our applique stitching.
Since we’re doing this with fleece and fleece doesn’t fray, you could use a straight stitch about 1/8 from the edge of your number pieces. However, I like the look of a satin stitch (or zigzag stitch with a short stitch length) with matching thread. Pull your thread tails through to the back and tie a knot instead of back-stitching.
Now it’s time to sew the velcro onto your back pieces. Fold one of the long sides of your fleece over one inch with the RIGHT SIDE of the fleece facing out to make a single fold hem. For one of your pieces you’ll pin the velcro onto the SAME side as your raw edge, and you’ll sew the other piece of velcro to the OPPOSITE side of your raw edge (so one velcro will face into the pillow and one will face out.) Pin and stitch the velcro in place.
Velcro your two pieces together so they form a square. It’s likely they’ll actually be a bit larger than your 24″ square, which is fine. Just trim it to match your 24″ square. Put RIGHT sides together and sew around all four edges of your pillow with a 1/2″ seam allowance. I like to double sew over the velcro to reinforce the opening.
Clip the corners and turn right side out.
Add your pillow and velcro closed.
And get ready to relax for the big game or curl up with a good book.
