Let's get stitching!

When my sewing adventures began I relied solely on tutorials that were provided by very generous bloggers. It was easy to find projects that I enjoyed, and the blogger's instructions were essential to my learning to sew.   Now that I have grown in my sewing skills it is a lot of fun to strike out on projects alone, coming up with my own patterns and ideas along the way.   

You all seemed to enjoy the Chicken Scratch Pillows that I put together, so I thought it would be nice to put out a tutorial.  If you are like me, and enjoy trying to make things yourself then you will enjoy this.  If not, then you can just order your pillow off of Naptime Stitches Boutique page and I’ll do it for you!  This will be a two part blog post, today I’ll give you instruction on how-to applique onto the pillow front.  Part 2 will show how to finish your pillow by sewing and stuffing it.

A few supplies are needed for this project.  You will need:

            Scissors

            Thread

            Heat n’ Bond iron on adhesive

            Fabric scraps (to cut your eggs out of)

            2 - 12 x 12 inch squares of fabric for the pillow body

            A template for the eggs

            Iron

Let’s get started!

1.    First you will need to cut out the fabric for the body of your pillow.  Cut out one 12 in square and then use it as your pattern for the second square.  This will insure they are the same size.  For my pillow I am using drop clothe fabric.  You can get painters drop clothe at most any hardware store.  It has a great off white color and is very affordable.  I got a 9 by 12 ft piece of fabric for $18 at Lowes.  You can make a lot of pillows with that!  Smaller pieces are available too.  If you don’t want to use drop clothe any off white fabric will do.

2. You will need to make a template for your egg.  I drew out an egg shape on card stock paper.  If you have trouble drawing out the shape you want then head over to google images and look for egg clip-art, it should be easy to find the perfect template there.

3. Take the fabric you selected for eggs and iron on the heat n’ bond.  The package will have instructions as to how to do this.  Basically you just place the heat n’ bond rough side down on the wrong side of the fabric.  Press with a hot iron until it adheres. 

4.    Using your egg template trace your egg out-line onto the back side of the prepped fabric then cut it out.  You will need to trace and cut out 9 eggs.  I enjoyed using a different fabric for each egg.  Since all eggs are different shapes and colors none of mine are quite the same.  If you don’t have lots of scraps laying around like me you can use the same fabric for all the eggs and it will be very cute.

5. Peel the paper off of the heat n’ bond prepped fabric cut outs.  Place them on the pillow fabric like so.  Turn the steam off on your iron and press them into place.  I gently move my iron around on top of whatever I am ironing for about 30 seconds.  Sometimes it is hard to tell if the fabric has adhered properly until it has cooled off.

6. After this you are ready to stitch around the edges of what you have ironed on the pillow.  I used my sewing machine to do this, but if you don’t have one or prefer hand stitching you can do this very easily by hand.  Stitching around the eggs can prove a bit tricky.  Just remember that imperfections add to the cuteness of this project!

This is what your pillow front should look like.

 I hope that you enjoy and take part in this little project!  If you have any questions or would like to share your experience in making this leave us a comment and I will be sure to read and respond when necessary.  All of the comments will be entered in a drawing for some scrap fabrics, just enough to make some cute scrappy eggs.

 I'll be back in a few days to show you how to finish up this little pillow. You better go get stitching!

God Bless

Melissa

**  We will do the drawing for the scrap giveaway on Monday April 22 at 4:00 pm.  Don't forget to leave an email address in your comment.