Baby Pillow Tutorial

First, determine how large you want your pillow.  I chose my size based on the embroidery design.  I made my pillow 7" x 10".  My cut dimensions are 8" x 11".  Find your center and mark it for placement of your design.  I simply fold my fabric in half vertically then horizontally to find the center.  I've also cut the fabric large enough, then embroidered my design, then cut to size. 

Because I used muslin as my main fabric, I chose to line it with a piece of white broadcloth.  Cut it to the same dimension and baste together after you've embroidered your design.  Also, I used a blue broadcloth for the back of the pillow.    Cut one the same size as the other two.  So now you should have one main piece, one lining piece, and one backing piece all 8"x11".  Now for just a short side note on squaring your fabric.  If you have good quality fabric, you can tear your pieces rather than cutting them to get a true square piece.  I did not tear my muslin, because it doesn't tear well.  I tore both the lining and backing pieces though. Below is my already torn piece for the width.  Simply lay your top piece on top of your backing and/or lining right on the selvage edge, and snip on the selvage edge right where you would normally cut.  You can do both sides.  But always tear across the selvage not down vertically.  I've torn both sides here and have left the length just to compare.  My selvage edge is to the right.

Now all you have to do is use your ruler to cut off the other side.  Now your pieces should be square.

This is a close up of the torn edge. Nice and straight, but I should have pressed before snapping the pic.

Now you are ready to assemble your pieces.

Because I made my own whipped piping, I wanted to be certain I really secured the stitches.  So I stitched my piping to the top piece first, then stitched to my lining, then added the back piece so I'd have 3 layers of stitching.  Start at the bottom of the backing piece right sides together and pin all the way around leaving a 2 inch overlap at the bottom.  I'll show you a neat trick to piecing these together without overlapping.  It makes a nice seamless piece.

Stitch the piping to the top piece using the same stitch line used to enclose the cording on the piping.  Leave an opening at the bottom where the two pieces meet. I would say 2 inches will suffice.  Be sure to clip the piping at the corners to help ease it around, but be careful not to cut into the stitching on the piping.

Now take the long piece and remove the floss from the piping but DO NOT cut it.  Now use your seam ripper to remove the stitching from your piping.  You want to expose the cording inside, because you are going to cut it.

Cut your cording so the ends just meet.  You have two choices on joining them together.  1. You can stitch the ends together with a needle and thread. You would definitely choose this option on large cording just to keep it in place.  2. You can leave the ends alone and simply slide one end of the piping into the other end. It's really hard to see in this pick, because the flash was way too bright.  But on the right side, open the piping flat and fold the end in 3/8" and press.  Keep the piping flat, and lay the left side of the piping inside the right side.  Then fold the right back together enclosing the left side.

I'm a little ahead in this next shot, but my camera just wasn't cooperating. I tried to zoom and darken the photo.  You can just see the hem at the bottom.  Now pin the two ends together but do not pin it to the pillow yet.  Take your tail of your floss and restitch it to the piping.  When you get to the end and on your last stitch.  In this photo, it's the one right at the seam, bring your thread up at the last mark or right at the bottom of the next stitch and bring it to the bottom as shown.

Stitch this section to your top piece.  And this is what it should look like.

Now you want to attach your ribbon to the top if you want it to hang from a door.  You could omit this step if you just want a pillow.  I used a 20" long piece of ribbon.  Measure the top piece to find the center.  Place your ribbon 5 inches apart from outside edge to outside edge as shown.  Make sure the ribbon is straight and will hang the way you want.  Pin it to test it if needed.  Baste the ribbon in place.

Now place your backing piece to the top piece right sides together making sure your ribbon is out of the way.  You may want to pin this to the middle of your pillow to keep it out of the way.  Start at the bottom and stitch all the way around the pillow on the same piping stitch line leaving a 3 inch opening at the bottom for turning.  Clip your corners to remove the bulk being careful not to clip the stitches.  Turn right side out, and use something pointy like your scissors to push out the corners.  Stuff your pillow to the desired thickness using polyfil and pin the bottom closed.

Whip stitch the opening closed.  And you are finished.  I used DMC floss color 519 for the embroidery and on the piping.

I'm so sorry for the photos.  I'm hoping to have a new camera at Christmas.
Angela

UPDATE: I AM SO SORRY THAT SOME OF MY PICTURES ARE MISSING.  I MISTAKENLY DELETED THEM FROM PICASA AND THAT RESULTED IN THEM BEING DELETED ON MY BLOG.  I AM GOING IN NOW TO TRY TO RECOVER MOST, BUT SOME OF THEM ARE JUST GONE.  PLEASE FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME WITH QUESTIONS THOUGH.  I'LL TRY TO GET ANOTHER PROJECT DONE SOON TO REPLACE THESE.