Hi! It’s Mandi here! Moving our kiddo into a “big girl bed” is for sure going to be an emotional, and possibly stressful, moment, but I figured I’d really enjoy it a lot more if I could make a few fun pillows to decorate her new bed. We’ll be waiting a few more months to actually make the big move, but I wanted to get a jump start on making pillows, because you know how it goes! Before you know it, the day is here, and ain’t nobody got time to make pillows.
I love the fun and preppy look of pennants, but since our daughter Lucy doesn’t have a favorite team yet, I decided to adorn this pennant pillow with her own name. Classic kiddo decor, I suppose! I was inspired by the California pennant pillow I saw here, and after more digging, discovered that the image was from the home of Christine Schmidt, who also happens to be the designer of my inspiration pillow. It was a collaboration between Christine and Schoolhouse Electric, but all of the pillows are sold out now except the NYC one.
I loved the piping on Christine’s pillow, but since I didn’t want to embroider the entire name, I decided to use a fusible webbing instead. Check out how I stitched it all together in my instructions below!
Supplies:
-1/4 yard dark colored fabric
-1/2 yard coordinating lighter colored fabric (I used a medium-weight twill for both)
-Fusible webbing with a paper back (I used Wonder Under brand)
-Piping (I used one pack of premade piping, but you can make your own too)
-Straight pins
-Thread to match the lighter fabric (Ignore the darker colored thread in the photo)
-Polyfill or other batting material
-Pencil
-Permanent marker
-Scissors (paper and fabric scissors)
-Large piece of paper (I used a piece of wrapping paper)
-Ruler (A long one, like a yardstick or T-square works well)
Step One: Cut out the pennant pattern. To do this, you will need a rectangular piece of paper that is 20″ x 12″. Draw a line down the middle of the rectangle to create the point of the pennant. Then connect the end of that line to the two opposite corners to form a triangle (as shown above right). Then cut out the triangular shape.
Step Two: Cut out the fabric. Stack your fabric with the good sides facing each other and pin the pennant pattern to them. Cut out the shape with fabric scissors.
Step Three: Cut out the fusible webbing. This one roll of fusible webbing has lasted me through a few projects so far, and I still have a lot left! Unroll a section of the webbing, trace around one of your fabric pennant shapes, and cut out the fusible webbing.
Step Four: Draw the name onto the rough side of the fusible webbing. First, use a pencil to draw a margin around the pennant shape (2″ margin on the left and 1″ margin elsewhere). Fill in that space with the name drawn in cursive. After you’re satisfied with how the name is drawn, trace around it with a permanent marker. The finished width of the letters should be no thinner than a 1/4″ wide at any point.
Step Five: Iron the fusible webbing onto a scrap piece of lighter colored fabric, not the pennant that you cut in step two. Make sure the rough side (the side you drew on) is facing the nice side of the fabric, then press with a dry iron set to the wool setting and hold it for about 10 seconds on each spot. Then cut out the letters from the fabric.
Step Six: Take the cut-out letters, peel off the paper backing from the fusible webbing, and position the letters onto the darker fabric. Use a lightly damp press cloth over the positioned letters and press with an iron set to the wool setting for about 10-15 seconds, depending on the thickness of the fabric. Allow the fabric to cool and dry completely before handling.
At this point you may want to embroider or stitch around the edges to prevent the letters from peeling off over time.
Step Seven: Sew the piping to the dark pennant piece that you worked with in step six. When pinning the piping into place, make sure rolled edge is facing in, and that the selvage edge is facing out. Cut little slits into the selvage edge of the corners so the piping can bend nicely. Begin and end the piping at the lower side of the left edge, overlapping them as shown above. Use a zipper foot or a sewing machine foot without a left edge and sew as close as possible to the pipping. Use thread that matches the color of your piping.
Step Eight: Connect the two pennant triangles together. Pin the two pieces together around the edges, making sure the good sides are facing each other. Use the same zipper foot to slowly stitch around the edges, making sure you don’t stitch over top of the piping. Try to follow the lighter colored thread from step seven to get as close to the piping as possible.
Make sure you leave the left edge open enough to fit your hand inside for the next step.
Step Nine: Flip the pillow right-side-out and stuff with batting. You may need to use a pointy object, like scissors, to push the fabric out at the corners. Then push the batting into the corners first and continue to evenly stuff the entire pillow with batting. Close the opening with a blind stitch.
You can see in the image below that the edges of the woven fabric I used will fray a bit over time. I actually love the look of this, but you may not. If you don’t want your fabric to fray, then you can use felt instead of a woven fabric. Embroidering around the edges can also be helpful to keep the fabric from pulling away over time. If you decide to embroider around the edges, you’ll want to do that at the end of step six or seven.
I love how the pennant pillow turned out, and I can’t wait to put it on Lucy’s big girl bed! Actually, I can wait. Let’s wait a little longer. If you don’t have a kid’s bed to decorate, that’s okay too! This pennant pillow would look great sitting on your sofa or chair. Just use your family name or favorite team’s colors instead of Lucy Jo in pink and burgundy. Or you can make your pillow say Lucy Jo in pink and burgundy. It’s totally up to you!
–Mandi
Credits // Author and Photography: Mandi Johnson
30 Comments
That is so so cute!
Love the colors…so happy that it’s springtime already:
http://lasagnolove.blogspot.de/2014/03/what-birdy-has-been-up-to-lately.html
Love from sunny Germany,
Birdy and Bambi
All of your sewing DIYs look so amazing, but sadly I don’t have a sewing machine and never learned to sew. How did you learn? And how do you recommend getting into sewing?
This is adorable…I wish someone would make this for me!
http://vodkaandarose.blogspot.co.uk
I was fortunate enough for have a sewing machine in my home growing up, and while my mom certainly isn’t a master seamstress, she does know the basics and passed those on to me. But she doesn’t know how to crochet or knit, so I had to run to YouTube to learn how to do that. I discovered YouTube is a treasure trove of easy video tutorials that teach lots of basic craft skills, like sewing, crochet, and even wood working stuff. I’d suggest going there to learn the basics. You can pause and rewind at any point, which helped me understand trickier movements that never made any sense to me when I read descriptions or saw still images in books or on blogs.
I bought my sewing machine at a garage sale for $50! But you can buy basic models for not too much money at craft stores or on Amazon. Also, ask around in your group of friends or on Facebook- you never know who had a sewing machine they never use in their basement, attic, or garage and would even be willing to give you one for free!
The most difficult part of sewing is learning how to thread your machine, but once you figure that out, it’s so easy, and addicting! I would suggest starting first with a simple square shaped pillow, without piping. You will literally just sew around the edges of a square, leaving an opening on one side so you can flip it inside out and stuff with batting. Once you’re confident with that, you can increase the difficulty of your projects. I used to just sew curtains and pillows, and was intimidated of everything else, but out of desperation for maternity clothes, I even started sewing my own clothes a couple of years ago, and discovered it was much easier than I had thought!
Totally cute. It’s like the chair belongs to Lucy. Eheh. I can just see it now… No! Don’t sit there! xD
http://xfallenmoon.blogspot.com
That looks so cute! I really need to get a sewing machine so I can get to work on all of these.
Oh so cute! Such a fun and unexpected shape!
juliettelaura.blogspot.com
I love this. Cool idea, thanks for sharing.
Love this! I could actually see myself able to make it, haha! Thank you for posting!
Oh my goodness, I have a really, really old machine that I was given for free. I like sewing (not a master seamstress, but it’s a fun hobby) and I’ve been so intimidated by how to thread it and I can’t find any instructions for this old of a machine! I really just need to sit down and spend a few hours figuring it out before I just give in and by a newer machine… Anyway, I totally agree. The hardest part is learning to thread the machine. After that, life is golden.
Also, on another note, this pillow is so adorable that it might be enough to motivate me into figuring out how to thread my machine… 🙂
http://howtomakehome.blogspot.com
Love this idea! I’m sure it would make a great going away present for someone heading off to uni as well
Xx Milly
http://www.lovemilly.blogspot.ca
May I suggest the blunt end of a knitting needle is better than scissors, which might punch a hole in the fabric.
Nice tutorial, colorful and easy to understand.
Definitely planning on making one each for my kids. Cute!
I love this! You always come up with such amazing ideas!
Have an amazing day 🙂
http://sheseeksvictoria.wordpress.com
I’m going to make this for my little (3 year old) sister!!!
First of all, your daughters name is absolutely adorable. I love how it sounds like it’s from the 50’s! Also, this pillow is so cute and I want to make one even though I don’t have children yet! I just love the shape and can imagine it saying something else and having it on our bed or on the living room couch 🙂 Maybe ‘hello’ or ‘yolo’? (haha just kidding about yolo). Thanks so much for the post! Feeling inspired <3
-Emily
msmelange.com
such a cute DIY, and thank you for your tips above for getting into sewing 🙂
Such a fun project! It came out great!
Shannon
http://GBOfashion.com
Love the color combination!
http://beautyfollower.blogspot.gr
I love the way this turned out! It’s so adorable. I don’t have a kiddo of my own yet, but I can imagine how it pulls on your heartstrings to watch them grow up. So bittersweet. I’m sure she’ll love her big girl bed with all her awesome pillows!
xoxo
Taylor
Love your typography in this tutorial!
http://everydayingrace.blogspot.ca/
That’s really gorgeous. My little one is 15 months, and I’m dreading the “big girl bed” transition. However, you’ve inspired me to think creatively about how I can make the transition easier- for me…
I always enjoy your posts.
Gayle x
http://makethriftlovelife.blogspot.co.uk
This is all kinds of cute and retro fun!
Oh this is the cutest diy ever! It’s perfect for a big girl room. I wish I would’ve had this as a kid. Shoot I might make it for my dorm room <3 So cute and easy!
~Makaela at http://www.makaelassuitcase.blogspot.com
This is so fun, I bet she’ll love it! 🙂
This looks sooo good, but hard to do it.. 🙁
http://ladykfashionparty.blogspot.com/
what a cute DIY!
xxoo,
nikki
http://www.dreaminneon.blogspot.com
I love pennants! Growing up I would sometimes get to look through my aunt’s collection from her growing up in the 1960s and thought they were so awesome.
Absolutely adorable! I have a few pennants around my apartment, but I’ve never thought to transfer that idea into a pillow – so cute!
xo
Christa
http://www.gardeniasandmint.wordpress.com
I love this so much!