I absolutely love DIY projects that bring a little color into your home. This pillow is both sweet and sophisticated and perfect for this time of year.
I love having some fun pillows for the holidays. I’ve already got some adorable Christmas ones that I love! They match our Christmas stockings, so that’s fun! But I thought it was time to sew a pillow case to pull out around Valentine’s day. So I dreamed up this ruffled heart pillow case following a lot of the same steps I used for my Christmas pillow!
I probably spent a lot more time dreaming about it then actually putting it together since once I got started, it was a really quick project! Those are my favorite kind!
I really love how it turned out. The heart is pretty much my favorite color ever. It looks so simple and adorable sitting on my couch! And I love that it is a little pop of color in my living room.
Here are the steps:
Step 1. For a 12×12 pillow case measure and cut pillow fabric 14″ by 33.5″. For the heart, I used a cookie cutter to outline and cut out my shape and attached it to the middle of the pillow with a zig zag stitch around the outside of the heart.
Step 2. Then I cut out strips 3.5 inches wide 32 inches long. I wasn’t sure at first how much ruffle I would need so I cut out a couple strips and attached them together by placing them perpendicular to each other and sewing the corner.
Step 3. Fold the fabric in half and pin it in place right sides together to sew a long tube. Then flip it right side out and press it flat. To make the ruffle, change the settings on your machine to a long stitch length, with low tension, this is called a basting stitch. Sew a stitch down the center of the tube and then pull on the top thread to gather the fabric. I used about 40 inches of my tube to make a ruffle 18 inches long which was perfect to outline my heart.
Step 4. Pin the ruffle in place and sew it in place. I tried to sew perfectly down the center of the ruffle, but of course, I am still working on the whole perfect thing… It turned out pretty great though!
Step 5: Hem the two short ends of the rectangle 1 1/2 inch. Make sure to press before starting to sew. Straight stitch twice. Once on each side of the hem with 1/4 inch seam allowance. This will look pretty and provide a good solid hem.
Step 6. Once both ends are hemmed, lay your fabric down, fold one short end toward the center of the rectangle right sides together. The length of the fold should be about 8 inches, but make sure the heart is centered! Fold the other end over the top. This should also be about 8 inches and will overlap with the other folded edge.
Step 7. Press and pin your edges so that they don’t shift while you are sewing. Sew your pillowcase shut with a straight stitch using 1/2 in seam allowance. Turn the pillowcase right-side-out! Press again. Voila! You’re done!
Admire your work and let your heart fill with joy whenever you see it…
I’m already dreaming up a complimentary ruffle pillow to go along with it! We’ll see how much time I spend dreaming about it before I actually get around to making it happen! For now, I’ll just enjoy this pretty ruffled heart pillow!
I had so much fun making this pretty little heart pillow for our living room. I originally wrote this tutorial and published it on Pretty Providence! Love those girls!!
Looking for some more heart crafts?
