Spread a little Joy for the holidays with these letter pillows.  Carla Henton from Creatin’ in the Sticks is on the blog today to show you how with HEATnBOND® FUSIBLE INTERFACING and fabric from Blend Fabrics.

Joy letter pillows 4 by Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks for Thermoweb using HeatnBond interfacing and fleece

Don’t you just love creating Christmas decor?   These letters are so fun to make you will be making them for everyone.  This is just your starting point.  Enlarge your favorite font to make your own letters and spell anything you want.  EnJOY!!!

Joy Letter Pillows

By Carla Henton at Creatin’ in the Sticks

Finished Size- each letter about  9” x 7 1/2”

Joy Letter Pillow Supplies:

Supplies for letter pillows Joy by Carla at creatin' in the sticks for thermoweb

Letter patterns – Download the JOY pattern

1 – pkg. HEATnBOND® FUSIBLE INTERFACING Light Weight

HEATnBOND® FUSIBLE Fleece

(optional) 2 pkgs. ½” bias piping (red)

Thread – Aurifil 50 wt.  (#2270)

Fabric:  Snowflake Waltz by Maude Asbury for Blend Fabrics

1 yard for letters – Grand Firs Green Fabric from Blend Fabrics

(Cut 2:  Each letter)

1/3 yard for sides – Dewdrops Wht/Red

(Cut 4:  2 ½” x width of fabric for sides of letters)

Other supplies:

Scissors
Clips and pins
needle
fiber fill for stuffing the pillow
ruler
iron (I love my Oliso Pro)
sewing machine and other general sewing supplies

Optional:  aquarium gravel to weigh the letters for display

 

For each JOY letter:

Supplies for each letter Joy by Carla at creatin' in the sticks for thermoweb

Cut 2 letters from fabric, one letter from fusible fleece (cut with the wrong side of the pattern up), one letter from interfacing, one 2 ½” x 1 yard of interfacing, and one 2 ½” x WOF from fabric.  The “O” will need 2 strips of fabric and interfacing.

TIP:  After opening the package of HEATnBOND® FUSIBLE INTERFACING Light Weight, do not unfold the interfacing.  Just slide the interfacing out of the package and cut the four 2 1/2″ strips then unfold the interfacing to cut out the 3 letters.TooltipText

JOY Letter Pillow Instructions for each letter:

Step 1 –  Fuse the 2 ½” strip of interfacing to the wrong side of the 2 ½” strip of fabric following the package instructions.

oliso pro in Joy pillow on heatnbond interfacing

The fleece will be on the back of the pillow front letter. Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric letter (back) and fuse the fleece to the other fabric letter (front).

Step 2 – If piping is desired, pin and stitch the piping to the front of the fleece-backed letter with a ¼” seam with matching thread. For the “J” and the “Y”, pinch the corners and pin without cutting the seam allowance of the piping.  Part of the seam allowance will be exposed on the finished pillow.  Go slow and the corners will stitch out by pivoting the sewing machine needle at each corner.  The seam allowances will be clipped after all the stitching is complete.  For the “J” and the “O” inside curves, the piping will need to be slightly folded and eased around.

piping applied to heatnbond backed letter pillow front by Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks

Step 3 – Stitch the interface-backed strip of fabric around the letter.  Trim the excess fabric away (the part that has no interfacing).  Make sure the selvages are trimmed off.  Begin stitching 2” from the end of the strip and on a straight side of the letter.  (start anywhere on the “O”)  Backstitch at the beginning and begin stitching the strip around the letter with the right sides together and ¼” from the edge.   Pivot the sewing machine needle at the corners and slightly stretch the strip to ease around the corners.

Sewing strip showing starting point by Carla for Thermoweb

Take the stitching slow and make the strip smooth by slightly stretching where needed.  Continue stitching around the letter until about 3” from the start and backstitch.  Remove the letter from the sewing machine and take to the iron.  Press both ends of the strip back as shown to mark where the strip meets and where the strip will be stitched.

Showing where strip comes together and pressing for sewing by Carla for Thermoweb

For the “O”, the seam will have to be finger pressed while the strip is upright for both the inner and outer strips then pinned.

sewing strip for o in joy letter pillow

Pin the strip at the creases and stitch on the line. Trim the extra strip tails to ¼” seam allowance, press, and pin the strip in place.

strip seam sewn by Carla for letter pillows at thermoweb for Christmas 2017

Stitch the strip to the letter.  With sharp scissors, trim off all corners and clip all curves in the seam allowances up to the stitching.  For the “O”, press ¼” seam allowance on the edge of the inner circle as shown.

Inner circle o of joy by Carla at creatin' in the sticks

Step 4 – Using clips, attach the interface-backed letter to the strip’s right sides together.  For the “J”, start at the top by finger pressing the strip at the corners to mark the placement, the “Y” can be started at any branch by finger pressing the corners to mark the placement of the back letter.  To clip the backing on the “O” fold both “O”s in quarters and finger press to mark the placement of the outside strip.  The inside strip will be hand sewn to the back so there is no need to clip it to the backing.  Stitch ¼” from the edge, starting on a straight side of the “J” and “Y”.  Backstitch at the beginning and end and leave a 3” opening for turning the letter inside out.  The “O” can be turned through the center so there is no need to leave an opening.

Back clippped to letter pillow showing opening by carla at creatin' in the Sticks for Thermoweb

Trim off all corners and clip seam allowances on all curves to stitching.

Turn the letter right side out and push out all the corners.

Step 5 – Finish each letter.  The “O” will have to be hand-stitched before stuffing.  Turn it right side out and pin the inner strip to the back of the letter, right sides together, and slip stitch ¾ of the circle to leave an opening for stuffing.

Inner circle o of joy pillow stitched by carla at creatin' in the sticks

If the pillows are for display only, adding aquarium gravel to the bottom will add weight and make the letters stand up.  Add ¼ cup of the gravel before stuffing with fiberfill.

aquarium gravel to add weight to letter pillows of joy by carla at creatin' in the Sticks for thermoweb

Stuff the letter with fiberfill making sure to push it into the corners.  A chopstick works well for this.

The opening should be slip-stitched shut once the letter is stuffed with fiberfill.

Make all 3 letters for pure joy.

Joy letter pillows 3 by Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks for Thermoweb using HeatnBond interfacing and fleece

3 Comments on Joy Letter Pillows for Holiday Decor with HEATnBOND® Fusible Interfacing

  1. Joan M Wallrich
    December 9, 2017 at 4:08 pm (6 years ago)

    I just love this! Very inspirational, thank you for sharing

2Pingbacks & Trackbacks on Joy Letter Pillows for Holiday Decor with HEATnBOND® Fusible Interfacing