Smothered in Kisses Pillow

I know you've all been breathlessly waiting for my next felt Valentine pillow. Well, exhale ladies, here it is! This one I simply adore. Although I will throw out a cautionary statement for those in the audience who are a little OCD, the hearts will not always lay flat, so you will either have to deal with that fact, or attach them to the pillow in some other way. *end of disclaimer*

To begin, cut out the front of your pillow to the desired size. Mine was 13X13 for a finished 12" pillow form. Then cut out lots and lots of hearts. I used my Sizzix machine which cut out two different size hearts at the same time, and I cut two layers at a time also, so it was 4 per shot, not too bad! Then I just randomly started stitching the hearts on the front panel of the pillow. I used a simple X shape (the kisses part of the pillow) with a doubled length of regular white thread right in the middle.

Keep going until your first layer is done. That's right, I said first layer! ;) (the smothered part of the pillow) Then take more hearts and do a second layer of hearts, covering up most of the background color.

I took one heart of the background color and stitched it down on the corner, just for fun.

This is what the front of the pillow will look like after both layers are added.

Now it's time to finish the pillow. I used a simple envelope closure. Take the measurements of the front pillow. divide the width by 2 and add 4". Cut two of these pieces. Hem one side of each panel (I use a 1" hem, doubled over). Then make your pillow. Put the front of the pillow right side up, down on a flat surface, lay one side of the back, right side down, on top, lining up the edges. Repeat with the other side. (I have a tutorial coming up for this shortly, but I didn't get all the right pics with this pillow- there are plenty of other tutorials out there if this is clear as mud) Sew around the entire pillow. Clip the corners and turn right side out.

I decided to add one little heart to the back just for giggles.

Here's the finished pillow, with it's new buddy, the fan ruffle pillow.

Gwen did a great tutorial on making your own labels, so I decided to try it out. Here's my very first labeled project! Love it!

And as one final piece to this long post, I have a couple tips for all you pillow makers (or soon to be pillow makers, since I know this pillow is so wonderful you're going to all run out and get the supplies TODAY- or maybe tomorrow ;) ).

The first is that when I open up a new pillow form, I write on the form what the size is (lightly with a pencil, in a corner). You might think this is silly, but since I've started making holiday pillow covers, sometimes I don't remember what size I made it for and have to pull out the tape. On a similar note: label all your pillow covers as well. That way, when next Valentines day rolls around, you know which cover goes on which form. I like making the pillow covers removable, that way I can just store the covers, and not the whole pillow. It takes up much less space! I guess that was more than a couple, but I hope they help.

xoxo,

Amy

Linked up to Amy's new Idea Room Community!

Linking up to Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap-up party, and Under the Table and Dreaming Sunday Showcase. I'm also linking up to a new party (new to me anyway) the Round Tuit party!

I am also linked up to While He Was Napping Valentine/Love party. That's a lot more linking than I usually do for one post, but I was kindly invited to some and thought I'd love to join in more fun! (gosh that rhymed! Yay me)

Lovey Doo Dolly

My littlest Miss is having a birthday on Friday. I think it was fortuitous that a few posts on my blogroll have recently contained images of hand made dolls. Not one to have any extra money to burn on things like patterns (one day my friends, one day). I decided to make up my own. Here she is: Little Lovey Doo! (one of little Miss's nicknames)
Her head is a little wonky, her too skinny limbs twist uncontrollably (trying to keep one foot pointing forward, not backward!), and when I gave her to little miss for a test run, she quickly took her long ponytails (made of thin strips of felt) and made some of it shorter- requiring a hair cut!
So, obviously there are a few fixes that need to be resolved. (including the fact that her head lurches forward since it's on a too skinny neck!) But, all in all I think she's a doll! (ha, ha)
Miss loves her and she'll be fun to wrap up with a matching baby doll quilt as a gift for the big girl! I'll keep working on the pattern though, I think this first run will only last so long (especially the hair).
If you're in a hurry and don't want to wait for me to work out my bugs, here are a few darling patterns: Ruby Lou at Sew much Ado, and this pattern from You Can Make This.com
As seen here at jones design company.
Linking up to Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts!

Hugs and kisses pillow

I know after the last post, and my promise of more pillow tutorials, you have all been glued to your computer screen waiting. Well, my lovelies, wait no longer, here is the first of probably too many pillow tutorials for 2011! This pillow is modeled after the bat pillow, but in a Valentine theme. It's called hugs and kisses- well, take a guess why! ;)

First you will need to cut out your heart shapes. I used a cookie cutter as a template. One trick for cutting out felt, is to put your pattern on a piece of regular copy paper and pin it to the felt, then cut it out. It keeps the edges neat and keeps you from having to draw on the felt.

You will also need to cut out the front piece of the pillow to your desired size. While you're cutting, cut out the back depending on how you are going to finish your pillow. I almost always use an envelope closure, since I like to store holiday pillow covers and not holiday pillows- it saves on storage space!

Lay out your hearts on the pillow front in your desired pattern and pin them down.

Next, I took three strands of embroidery floss and stitched X's and O's in alternating patterns in the center of the hearts.

If you remember from the bat pillow, I like to throw in something a little different, so on one heart I stitched kiss and the other I did hug. I also made those two hearts tilted, just for fun.

Once they're all stitched, you can finish the pillow however you like.


I love how this pillow turned out. When I had finished the top, I thought I wasn't really loving the color I chose, but now that it's done, I love it. I like that it's a little different color than the usual holiday colors, although I think I'll give this one to my sister, who has been on a neutral kick, and make myself one that's a little bolder in color. We'll see. ;)

Stay tuned for more pillows coming soon!

xoxo,

Amy

Linking up to Topsy Turvy Tuesdays!
and Sew Cute Tuesdays on the Creative Itch :)

Also linked up to the New Idea Room Community Blog!- Thanks, Amy!