Valentine Cuddle Pillow

Categories: Bedding, Kid Friendly, Pillow

What you need to make this project

Materials
16" or 18" Home Elegance ® Pillow

Download Pattern

Supplies
1 – Cuddle Cake from Shannon Fabrics.
Heart Applique Template
Paper backed fusible webbing
Thread
Pins
Sewing Machine

Quick Shop

Instructions

Step One

Choose the color you want for your heart, plus two background colors for the front of your pillow.  I chose the bright pink for the heart and the silver and white as my background colors.  You’ll also need to choose two colors for the back of the pillow.  I chose light pink and purple for the back.

1646-Layout

 

Step Two

Sew your four squares together to make the front of your pillow.  Repeat for the back.  If you’ve never sewn with Cuddle Fabrics before, be sure to read the Cuddle tips on the Shannon Fabrics Website before you start.  The basics are that you need to pin A LOT especially with the dimple fabric.  Use a walking foot if you’ve got one, and I sewed with a 3/8 inch seam.  You also need to be gentle with the iron since all those dimples in the fabric are heat set.

1648-Sew-into-blocks

 

Step Three

Cut out 2 of the heart template from your paper-backed fusible webbing.

1649-Heart

 

Step Four

Iron on to the BACK of your heart fabric.  Cut out your heart.

1650-Heart

 

Step Five

Peel off the paper backing.

1651-Heart

 

Step Six

Iron onto your pieced pillow front.  (Be really careful about the iron setting!  You do NOT want it on the highest setting.  It’s a careful balance between hot enough to fuse the webbing and not melting the Cuddle fabric.  You might want to use a cloth in between.)  I fount it really helpful to use a ruler to make sure it was centered.  1653-Iron-on

 

Step Seven

Sew with a tight zigzag or satin stitch around the edge of your heart.

1654-Zigzag-stitch

DON’T backstitch at the beginning and end or you will end up with extra heaving looking stitching.  Instead, LEAVE YOUR THREAD TAILS LONG, and pull them through to the back side of your fabric.  Then tie a secure double knot on the back.

1655-Tie-off-on-back

 

Step Eight

Repeat for the back of your pillow.

1657-Two-sides

 

Step Nine

Trim your front and back pieces to fit the size of your pillow insert.  I was using a 16-inch pillow insert, so I trimmed mine down to 17-inch squares to allow for a 1/2 inch seam allowance on each side.

1656-Trim

 

Step Ten

Once your front and back are finished it’s time to finish up the pillow.  Pin REALLY WELL around all four sides of your pillow.

1659-Back-pin1661-Pin-well

 

Step Eleven

Stitch with a 1/2 inch seam leaving a large opening on the bottom of the pillow so you can add your pillow insert.

1662-Sew

 

Step Twelve

Trim the corners.

1663-Trim-corners

 

Step Thirteen

Turn right side out.

1664-right-side-out

 

Step Fourteen

Add your pillow insert.

1665-Pillow

 

Step Fifteen

Pin the opening closed really well.

1667-Pin-closed

 

Step Sixteen

Stitch closed.  You could stitch it by hand, so the stitching is invisible, but I wanted a quick project and I just sewed it closed with my machine.1668-Sew-closed

 

Step Seventeen

And that’s it.  My daughter loves her cuddle pillow so much that she carries it all over the house to snuggle.

1693-on-the-bed

Happy Valentine’s Day…and Happy Pillow Making.

~Polly from Pieces by Polly