Greetings
my fellow Planting Mangonians!
Allie here!
First
off I just want to give a big Texas sized ‘Thank You!’ to my best pal, Tyler
Koch for letting me take over her awesome blog for a bit! She has been asking
me to write a post for a while now, but I just couldn’t think of anything to
write about, until now! (Drum roll please……..)
PILLOWS!
My all-time favorite time of year is the fall and winter seasons, and
with Christmas just around the corner I thought I would make a pillow inspired
by one of my favorite Christmas movies!!
ELF!
Here is how I made the pillow pictured above. I must say that in order
to make this pillow you must either know how to work a
sewing machine or know someone who knows how to use a sewing machine.
If you have a sewing machine and don’t really know how to use it there
are some very helpful YouTube videos out there with great tutorials.
- 2 Green, 1 Yellow & 2 Black pieces of felt fabric
- Black & White yarn
- 1 yard of the fabric of your choice
- Large needle (large enough to thread yarn
through & I would suggest the metal needle instead of plastic.)
- Stuffing (Poly-Fil)
- Pencil or Sharpie
- Paper to make stencils out of
- Ruler
- Sewing Machine
- Thread
- Sewing pins
Tip: You can also purchase a needle threader from Hob Lob, it's a cheap tool and really helps when it comes to sewing with yarn. You can usually find them close to the yarn and needles in the fabric section
LET'S GET STARTED!!!
(Tip: I really enjoyed watching the movie Elf while working on this project!)
Step 1:
Gather your materials.
Honestly, I can’t remember the exact type of fabric I picked out, but I
know that it is heavier than cotton and it worked well. It was about $8.99 per yard, but you can pick out any pattern you like best!
Step 2:
You’re going to lay your choice of fabric down on the table.
It should be folded in half so that when you cut the square you will have two
equal pieces. The pillow I made is 15"x15" and it makes the end pillow 14"x14". You
can make this square as big as you want, but I wouldn’t go smaller than 15"x15". After you cut the square out you can set it aside for a bit while we cut out the stencils and felt.
Tip: I wouldn't go too big because we don't want a giant pillow and small little Buddy the Elf legs!
Tip: Using fabric scissors
is the way to go!
Step 3:
Stencils
Using your paper and sharpie(or pencil) you are going to sketch out 4 stencils that you are going to use for the felt. (in this picture ignore the numbers)
I will be referring to this shape as #1
This is going to be the first piece of felt you will sew onto the fabric. It will look like this shape, a rectangle with the corners cut on one side. The rectangle should be 11"x7". (I know the picture says 10.5" by 6.5" but I would just round up) Make two of these shapes, one of them will be used to make the green jacket, which I will talk about in a second.
Next we are going to make the legs which will be in yellow felt. You really only need to cut out one stencil for the leg and then you can just flip it over for the other leg when transferring to the felt. The top of the leg will be about 4.5" wide at the top, 10.5" long and then 1.5" wide at the bottom. Those dashed lines are for the knees.
We are going to make the green jacket by using the second rectangle shape you cut out with #1 stencil. You will divide it in half (5" and 6") and then draw the lines downward, it should look something like this picture. You can then cut the checkered area out.
Lastly, we are going to make the black boots! They will be about 4" long and 5.5" wide. I would suggest sketching them out in pencil until you get the shape as close to this picture as possible.
Step 4: Transferring to Felt
You should have your stencils cut out by now.
Stencil 1 will be the backing which will be in black felt.
Stencil 2a & 2b will be the legs which will be in yellow (Tip: dot where you want the knees to go on the felt so when you are stitching you can remember to add them)
Stencils 3 & 4 will be the jacket and those will be in green
Stencil 5 will be the boots (make 2!) which will be in black.
Once everything is transferred and cut out you will position the pieces on one piece of your fabric like below...
Step 5: Stitching!
You're going to need your large needle and threading tool along with your white yarn.
Place #1 on the fabric first. Center and about 2-3" from the top edge.
Then just start stitching like so... all the way around. Until it looks just like the picture below.
Next we are going to add the legs. I used black yarn on the yellow. You will place them on top of the black, with the knees lined up with the bottom of the black felt like so. Use your sewing pins to keep the left leg in place while you stitch around the right.
When you are finished with the legs it should look like this.
Next you will add the green felt. I used the black yarn again to outline the jacket. If you want to give it an extra fluff you can add some stuffing before you stitch it all the way up. It gives the pillow a kind of 3D effect.
You will add the boots last with the white yarn as the outline stitching.
When you are finished your pillow should look like this!
Tip: I added some snowflakes using the white yarn on the jacket, but if you are sick of stitching you don't have to add them.
Step 6: Sewing!
You are going to want to use the other piece of fabric to mark where you will want to sew. I have about an inch from the edge all the way around.
Use your pins to hold the two pieces of fabric together.
REMEMBER to place the side of the fabric that will be on the inside of the pillow facing outwards. When you sew along the lines you will be leaving about 3" to 4" of space open so you can flip the pillow inside out and stuff it.
Sew sew sew...
Step 7: Flip & Stuff
Now you have left that 3" to 4" gap and you will pull the inside of the pillow (which is really the outside) to the outside.
Tip: Trim excess fabric from the corners before you pull it inside out
And then stuff your little heart out...
Finally, CLOSE IT UP! :-)
This blog
(www.lemontreecreations.blogspot.com/2010/11/shut-up-and-sew-stuffed-throw-pillow.html) was helpful when it came to closing the pillow with a cross stitch. There is also a stitch called the ladder, which I haven't mastered yet, but you can watch this YouTube video to see if you can do it!
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CjOXMuTFXo)
Now hopefully, if I'm any good at this direction giving thang, you should have your very own Buddy the Elf pillow to snuggle with while you watch Elf!
Thanks so much for reading! Hope you enjoyed this post, if you did leave a comment so Ty will have no choice but to let me post again!
XOXO
(^^I've always wanted to end a post that way)
Allie
