How To: Embroidered Love Pillow

Last week I shared a DIY for a sequin heart pillow for Valentine's Day.  I thought it looked a bit lonely, so this week I decided to make it a friend.  Both of these pillows were pretty quick to make, and I'm loving the change they have made in my decor.



You Will Need...

1/3 yard fabric of your choice
Polyfil or other stuffing
Thread to match your fabric
Embroidery floss
Paper
Scissors
Sewing Machine
Air erasable marking pen
Embroidery needles

To Make...

First I made my pattern for the heart.  I drew one half, traced it onto another sheet of paper, and taped them together to make a symmetrical heart.  I like to trace my pattern onto the fabric using an air erasable pen.  These pens can be found at any fabric store and I use mine all the time.  Once the pattern is traced, I cut out my heart, leaving about 1/2" around my line.

I don't use pins for sewing like this because I have been sewing forever and I don't really need them and I'm lazy (excuses, excuses).  But you should pin!  Pin along the edge every few inches to keep your fabric lined up.  I start in the middle of one of the straight sides and follow the line almost the whole way around.  I stop about two inches from where I start to leave an opening for the stuffing.  Trimming the seam allowance after sewing keeps the edges from getting too bunchy.  In retrospect I might have added piping to the edge to help the shape hold up, too late for me but not for you.  Now to stuff the pillow and stitch up the opening by hand.

Now to my favorite part!  By finishing the pillow before embroidering, I have bypassed the need for a hoop.  To start, I wrote out my script using my air erasable pen.  I only do one line at a time because I have a limited time to stitch before my ink will disappear.  To buy extra time, I sometimes trace over my lines with a fine pigment liner.  Once I have my script all laid out I can start stitching.  There is no need to knot at the beginning, simply insert the need an inch or so away and come up at the start of the line, finish in the same way.  I used a chain stitch for my script, feel free to experiment with other stitches to see which you like.  See my tutorial on basic embroidery stitches if you need a bit of help.  Once the first line is complete, simply repeat until the pillow is filled.

Here are my two Valentine pillows keeping each other company and making my chair much a more festive place to relax.