The first project I would like to share with you is a wedding gift I made for one of my close friends this summer. I knew I wanted to give a personal gift that she and her new husband could use or display. I am also on a pretty tight budget and needed something that would be awesome without costing a ton of money.
After searching Pinterest and some of my favorite blogs for gift inspiration, I came up with an idea for a DIY monogram pillow.
To make this pillow you will need: 2 pieces of fabrics (different colors), poly-fil, thread, straight pins, sewing machine, computer with word processing program, printer, contact paper, and 2 pairs of scissors (one for paper, one for fabric)
Tip: If you are making this for a gift, choose neutral fabrics that will fit with any home decor. Also remember to iron your fabric before starting so the finished product looks good.
Step 1: Measure out your two main squares of fabric that will form the front and back of the pillow. I used a decorative pillow as a guide and ended up with two 18x18in. squares of tan fabric.
Step 2: Measure out your letter fabric. I just cut this piece a little smaller than the main squares because I wanted my letter to be pretty big.
Step 3: Using a word processing program, play around with fonts to determine which look you like best. Once you find your desired font, type your letter into WordArt (or equivalent) and reverse the letter. Note: I used WordArt Style 1 to get a nice outline to guide my cutting.
Step 4: Print the large letter onto contact paper.
Step 5: I didn't have any contact paper on hand, but I did have a very old roll of sticky shelf liner, so I just cut a piece of that and stuck it to the back of the paper I had printed my letter on--it worked just fine!
Step 6: Cut out the letter following the printed outline.
Step 7: Unpeel the backing from the sticky paper and stick the letter down in the center of the front square of fabric.
Step 8: Lift up a bit of the letter and make a small slit in the fabric--this will make it easier for you to cut out the letter later without cutting the back piece of fabric.
Step 9: Pin the letter fabric onto the back of the main square of fabric. Be sure this fabric covers the whole area that your letter will take up. Begin slowly sewing around the letter, stitching close to the letter but not actually stitching it down.
Step 10: This is what the back of the front main square will look like once you've finished step 9. Remove the pins and cut away excess fabric if you wish.
Step 11: Peel the letter off the front of your fabric square.
Step 12: Starting at the small slit you made previously, begin cutting out the inside of the letter, getting as close to your stitch as you can. Be careful not to cut the back fabric! I found it helpful to use a smaller pair of fabric scissors to cut out most of the letter.
Step 13: Once you have cut out the whole letter, look it over and trim any rough edges before moving on to the next step.
Step 14: Now sew around the whole letter again. I used a zig-zag stitch to sew down the small bit of fabric I couldn't cleanly cut away and to add a fun decorative element to the pillow.
Step 15: If you do accidentally cut a small slit in the back fabric when cutting out the letter, simply pin a small patch over the hole before stitching around the letter the second time to patch the hole.
Step 16: Now pin the two main squares of fabric together with the insides facing out. Sew the squares together. Be sure to leave an open spot at the bottom of the pillow so you can stuff it.
Step 17: Flip the pillow right-side-out.
Step 18: Begin stuffing the pillow with poly-fil. Stuff it nice and full, being sure to pull apart any weird lumps or clumps in the poly-fil.
Step 19: Once you are satisfied with the stuffing, fold the bottom edges in and pin the unsewn edges together. Sew these edges together to seal up and complete your pillow.
Now sit back and admire your handiwork!
This made a great gift, but it would look great in your own home, too! It would be really cute to change it up using different color fabrics or even using a fun pattern for the letter. Now I'm thinking about making one for our living room. :) Best of all, this project costs very little to complete. I had everything on hand except the fabric and polyfil--less than $10 and a couple of hours creating produced this lovely monogram pillow.
Also check out these other DIY pillows (that inspired me) for more inspiration when making your own: His and Her Pillow Cases, Felt Monogram Pillow, Burlap and Sharpie Pillow
Happy crafting!
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