Keepsake Hug Pillow Tutorial

I'm calling this a hug pillow because the photo above is a pillow I made for my sister in law for Christmas. She has always been very close with our kids, and it was heartbreaking when we moved across the province from her. I know she misses the kids like crazy, just as they miss her and I wanted to send her something special from them. Kinda like getting a little hug in the mail.
I thought I would buy more of this fabric and make one for myself. Little did I know the fabric I used for the back...

Would be so hard to find. I made a couple of these pillows for gifts, and in the end I only had little scraps. Luckily I kept them and was able to make THIS. I never did find anymore. :(

Anyway on to happier topics! The reason I'm showing you a photo of this particular pillow is because the pictures I have to show you next are horrible. I made up this tutorial late at night, and you can tell! I wanted to post so you all can get started on your Mother's Day projects (we have visitors from out of town and I didn't know when I would get a chance if not tonight). Perfect gift for Grandma!

Here we go!
What you will need:
- Fabric- 2 to 3 coordinating fabrics
- Fabric adhesive or glue stick
- Fabric pen or a washable marker
- Medium weight fusible interfacing
- Your kids!

No measurements as we are going to cut as we go. Don't be scared!

Let's begin by tracing your child(ren)'s hand onto a piece of cardstock. I have three kids so just traced one of their hands. For Christmas I made a pillow also for a close friend who had one child, in that case I traced both of her daughter's hands. I've numbered mine so I could remember who's hand was who's as my kids are close in age.

Cut a piece of fabric that will be large enough to fit all of your hands. Cut a piece of your interfacing to the same size. Fuse your interfacing to the wrong side of your fabric.

On the interfacing side of the fabric trace your hands. Make sure to flip them over so they are right sides down or your hands will be in the opposite direction when you cut them out!

Cut out your hands.

Now, out of another fabric, cut out a piece that will be large enough for all of your hands to be sewn onto in the pattern of your choice. This will be the center of your pillow. It is up to you and will depend on how large you want your pillow to be. I cut mine 10X17. Spray some fabric adhesive on the wrong side of your  fabric hands (or use a glue stick), and arrange them on your fabric.

We are going to stitch the hands to the pillow center. First, get a scrap piece of fabric and adjust your stitch settings. Use a zig zag stitch, and make it smaller and narrower. I can't easily share my settings with you as my machine has a slider, not a numeric measure. Stitching close to the edge of your appliques as shown in the photo, sew all the way around each hand. When you go around the fingers you will need to lift your presser foot and adjust your fabric every few inches to get a nice curve. if you have never appliqued around something curvy before it is best to practice on a scrap first!

Woven fabrics fray. One reason we applied the interfacing is to help prevent fraying (as well as to make them easier to sew to your pillow piece without puckering).The reason we are using a small zig zag stitch is for the same reason. This also prevents fraying. Using a straight stitch is not a good idea unless you want the look of a frayed applique.

Now we need a border for our pillow. There is no right or wrong way of sizing this. Again, it will depend on how big you want your pillow. using the full width of your fabric cut a couple of strips. I wanted 3 inch, but then accidentally cut 2.5 inches. It's all good.

Take one of your long strips and right sides together sew it to one of the long edges of your pillow. I used a 1/4 inch seam allowance. As you can see by the photo you will have quite a bit extra coming off the end. Cut your strip to make it the length of your pillow.

Just like this.

Take the piece you cut off, and right sides together sew it to the side of your pillow, lining the strip up with the top edge of your previous border piece as shown. Then, cut so it is even with the bottom of your pillow just like you did to the top border piece.

Do this with the remaining two sides. This is what your pillow front will look like when you are done. Press. If you are going to embroider something on your pillow now is the time to do it. This one is just for me and I'm choosing to leave it blank.

Square up your pillow. Meaning, measure the width and height of your pillow and make sure it is not wider or taller at one end than the other. Now cut another piece of fabric the same size to be your pillow back.
Sew all the way around, right sides together, leaving an opening of a few inches to insert your stuffing.

Clip your corners being careful not to cut through your stitching. Turn right side out and use something pointy to poke out your corners. Stuff your pillow and slip stitch the opening closed (or be lazy like me and just machine stitch it closed).

Ta da! My bad night time picture!

And the back.

Perfect Mother's Day gift!

I would love to see your pillows! Upload them to our Flickr Group!