My name is Amy Smart and I blog about my sewing adventures at Diary of a Quilter. Today Kari invited me to share a tutorial for a quick and easy Valentine’s Day project. This throw pillow whips up fast and is oh so cute.
Supplies needed:
WonderUnder or HeatNBond – enough to trace 5 hearts
Scraps of fabric for the hearts
Background fabric in the size you desire
Needle and DMC floss for the ‘string’
Batting to stuff the pillow
Backing fabric in the same size as your background fabric for the back of your pillow
First trace a heart template (or draw your own) on the paper side of the WonderUnder/HeatNBond. I googled Heart Template and found dozens if you want a slightly different heart. I used this one, reducing the size a little. My hearts are about 3.5″ long and 2″ wide.
Iron the fusible side to the back of your fabric scraps. You could use a variety of scraps, or if you’re not like me with fabric scraps coming out of your ears, you could use all the same fabric. Felt would be equally adorable.
After the HeatNBond is fused on, cut out fabric hearts. Cut a piece of backing fabric to the size you would like your finished pillow. I used a piece of nubby, linen-type fabric and cut mine 12″ x 21″ – but there’s lots of room for flexibility here. Make it whatever size you want.
Using a water eraseable pen draw a line for the ‘string’ the hearts will hang on. I just eyeballed it. And if I wasn’t happy with the drape of the string, I erased and changed. Don’t stress about this part. You will stitch on this line after the hearts are attached.
Lay your hearts on the ‘string’ line to play with their placement.
You could mark where you would like them to stay permanently.
Start with the center heart when you are ready to adhere the hearts to the backing fabric. Remove the paper backing of the WonderUnder and iron the first heart into place. Repeat with the hearts on the left and right of center, and then finish with the final two hearts.
After hearts are fused to the background fabric, sew around the edges with a sewing machine. Hand stitching would look great too.
After hearts are stitched down, it’s time to stitch the ‘string’ the hearts are ‘hanging from.’ I used 2 strands of some dark gray DMC floss and backstitched along the line I’d drawn on the fabric.
When you get to the edge of the heart come up inside the heart about 3/4″ from the edge, make a 1/2″ stitch” and resume stitching on the other side of the heart, so it looks like the hearts are threaded onto a string, hanging like a banner.
When you’re finished stitching, cut a backing fabric the same size as your front piece. Sew right sides together, leaving an opening at the bottom for stuffing. Turn right-side out and stuff. That’s it! Super easy. The same design could be used as a table runner or wall hanging, instead of a pillow.
Thanks again Kari for letting me come play today!
–Amy from Diary of a Quilter
Admitted Fabricaholic says
Very cute pillow, I love the simplicity of it.
http://www.mesewcrazy.com
Mariolonza says
But this pillow is beautiful! Thanks, looks very nice and not too hard to do! 🙂
Ciao, Mariolonza!
Jessica @ Common Threads says
Awesome tutorial! I’m seeing so much great Valentine’s Day items. Too bad I have no time! It doesn’t snow in California (where I am) and hence, no snow days from work!
Anna says
beautiful, beautiful! love how modern this feels. great job amy and thanks to kari for hosting!
Heidi@TheCraftMonkey says
that banner pillow is ADORABLE! So sweet & cute!
{ Penny Candy Studios } says
What an adorable twist on the pennant craze! Perfect for Valentine’s Day, too.
Allie says
Oh I love it. Very simple and sweet. Love the shape of the hearts, too.
Stay Sew Creative says
What a great idea! It’s so cute too, and with lots of possibilities. Thanks for sharing!
Kara says
Amy is so talented and such a sweetheart! Fun to see her featured here. And I love the pillow!
Angie @ The Country Chic Cottage says
This is absolutely adorable!!!!
Graceful Moments says
Oh so cute! Love it thanks for sharing!!!
Emily Call says
I’m dying over this. I love it so so so so so much!
Liz says
So cute! I could see it in my bedroom all year long!
The Monster and Me says
Super cute and SO easy, totally making this!!
melanzana says
Hello I like your blog. Very nice and interesting work.
Gina says
I looked at the page from which you got your template, but could not figure out based upon their instructions how to save the image without the watermark across the heart image. Did you figure it out?
amy smart says
Many thanks for your kind comments!
Gina-don’t stress too much about the watermark. You’re just using the outline as a basic template to trace a heart on the heatnbond. You can just trace right over it. Or just google ‘heart template’ and you’ll find a ton of other hearts to choose from. Hope that helps!
Have fun everybody. 🙂
Nathalie says
LOVE your pillow!!! Thanks for the tutorial!!!
Sachiko says
This is such a cute pillow. Thank you for shraring!
Party store says
Fully enjoying this post info.Thanks
KJ@letsgoflyakite says
Lovely pillow, perfect for little red scraps and wonderful tutorial.
The Crafty Side Of Life says
Oh..my…heck. That is soooo cute!!! Love it!!
Jenny Bolech says
This is so cute! I love it! I’ve been wanting to make some Valentine’s Pillows but my craft room is in the middle of a mini-remodel so there is stuff all over the place – not great for sewing. Maybe I’ll have a few ready for next Valentine’s Day!
sweet & lovely crafts says
I love it- it’s adorable.
Andrea says
Gorgeous pillows – defiantly something to try
MrsShilts says
Very cute pillow, thanks for the tute
mamua says
Thanks for sharing! Love it, made it.:)
Anetti says
Love it, thanks for the nice idea
Crystelle Boutique says
I absolutely love it! So very adorable! What a great idea…
hugs x
Crystelle
This looks really tasty!
YUM!
hugs x
Crystelle
http://www.crystelleboutique.com
Filomena Crochet says
magnífico!!!!!
Joy says
Amy, this is so sweet! I’ve recently started making pillows, and I want to try this one. I found it at The Seasoned Homemaker, and came over here to get a better look. Thanks for a great idea and a helpful tutorial! PINNED! 🙂
Angela A says
Just made mine and love how it turned out! I used a white background instead of the tan since that is what I had, but still love it! Thank you for the great instructions!
Kari Sweeten says
Angela,
We would love to see your pillow! Can you email it to us??
Thanks so much!!
Jennifer says
thanks for the great tutorial! I came across this post when attempting a very similar pillow that I fell in love with at Etsy, but no longer available. You can view my project here: http://themooninmae.blogspot.com/2016/02/diy-heart-pillow.html
I made sure to mention your helpful tutorial as well!!
Pam Blanton says
I made a pillow like yours this morning! I love it!
Michelle says
Love this! Simply beautiful!! ❤️