My 5-year-old son wanted to help make this pillow and I thought it would be a great introductory sewing project for him. We worked together to pin, sew, and stuff this Christmas tree pillow, and it was a fun Christmas bonding activity!
How to sew a simple Christmas Tree Pillow
Supplies
- Fabric (amount depends on size of your pillow) – I used a thrifted bed sheet!
- Contrasting fabric for the back (optional – can make the back the same as the front if desired)
- Pencil or fabric marking pencil
- Sewing scissors
- Straight pins
- Sewing machine (can sew by hand if desired but will take far longer)
- Coordinating thread
- Stuffing (fiber fill, etc)
- Needle and thread for hand stitching
Directions
1. Wash, dry, and iron your fabric. This is the least fun part, but trust me, it makes your end product look much better.
2. Fold your fabric in half, right sides together. (I took this photo after the fact, which is why this fabric is so wrinkly looking – the fabric I used for my pillows had been ironed – promise!)
3. Use a pencil to draw half a Christmas tree coming out from the fold. Remember in school when you’d cut out a heart shape – you’d fold the paper in half, then cut half a heart so that when you opened it up it made a whole heart? Yep, same thing here except a Christmas tree! Make the tree whatever size you’d like.
4. Cut out your shape, keeping the fabric folded in half as you do so. You’ll end up with this:
5. Open up your tree and lay it on top of the backing fabric, keeping right sides together.
6. Cut out the backing fabric to match the front fabric.
7. Pin your pieces together in preparation for sewing. Do not pin the bottom – this will be left open for turning and stuffing.
8. Sew all along the sides, about 1/2 inch in from the edge, leaving the very bottom of the tree open.
9. Turn the tree right side out through the opening at the bottom.
10. Stuff with filling to desired firmness/fluffiness. A wooden skewer or dowel rod can be helpful in pushing the stuffing into those tricky corners.
11. Hand stitch the bottom of the tree closed, turning the edges inward to create a clean edge. I used a simple straight stitch (not a whip stitch).
All done!
I hope you enjoyed this simple Christmas sewing project! You can add embellishments to your Christmas tree pillow if you desire. The dollar store had some cute Pom Pom trim that I thought about adding to another pillow, either all around the edges or tacking onto the front as a zigzag garland. Buttons as ornaments would be another really cute addition. I opted for plain trees right now as I have a baby who would love to pull all those decorations off. I also just like the simplicity!
Thanks for reading!
Blessings,
Melissa