If you are like my family, summertime means countless days at the baseball park. With 3 boys, my sister barely has time to eat or sleep during the summer. For that love of baseball, I designed a fun baseball pillow cover that any one of those boys will love. Carla here from Creatin’ in the Sticks with a pillow cover using deco foil for super shiny letters and HeatNBond® Hi Loft Fusible Fleece for a dimensional baseball that you can make before the 9th inning is over.
Eat. Sleep. Play Baseball Pillow Cover
By Carla Henton at Creatin’ in the Sticks
Finished Size: 17” x 17”
Supplies
HeatNBond® Fusible Fleece 4 ½” x 4 ½”
HeatNBond® Fusible light or medium weight interfacing 4 ½” x 4 ½”
StitchNSew™ Fleece Sew-In Hi Loft 18 ½” x 18 ½”
Deco Foil™ Transfer Sheets (Black and Red)
Aurifil Thread – 50 wt. (2270, 2024, 2620)
Iron – (I love my Oliso Pro)
Fabric
1 – 16 ½” x 16 ½” – Gray
2 – 17 ½” x 11 ½” Gray for pillow back
2 Strips 1” x 16 ½” – Red
2 Strips 1” x 17 ½” – Red
1 – 4 ½” x 4 ½” – White
Other fabric:
1 – 19” x 19” Muslin (will not be seen in final project)
Other Supplies
Ruler, erasable marking pen, permanent marker, sharp scissors,
Sewing machine with a walking foot and other general sewing supplies
16” pillow form
Pattern for the applique -visit the Creatin’ in the Sticks pattern shop at Craftsy for the full PDF pattern
Sewing
**All seams are stitched at ¼” unless otherwise stated
Baseball Pillow Cover Instructions:
Please read through all instructions before starting this project
Step 1:
Because the fabric is white for the baseball and no “show though” is wanted, fuse the 5 ½” square of HeatNBond® Fusible light or medium weight interfacing to the wrong side of the white fabric. Trace the baseball with an erasable marker in the center of the non-fusible side of the square of HEATnBOND® High Loft Fusible Fleece interfacing (this is the stitching line) and cut a 2” slit in the middle.
Now place the fleece and interface backed white square together with the fusible side of the fleece down on top of the right side of the white square. The traced side of the fleece is up and this the stitching line. The tracing could also be on the interfacing side of the fabric for less fussy tracing.
Stitch around the traced baseball, backstitching at the beginning and the end. Trim close to stitching and use the 2” slit to turn the baseball right side out. Carefully push the edges out. The fusible side of the fleece is now on the bottom and the circle is perfectly round.
Tip: This technique is also great for the middle of Dresden blocks.TooltipTextSet the baseball aside.
Step 2:
Using ¼” seams, stitch the two red 1” x 16 ½” border pieces of fabric to 2 sides of the gray 16 ½” square, then stitch the 1” x 17 ½” strips to the other sides to form a border around the gray square. Press the seams. Next, place the baseball approximately 1 ½” away from the red border in one corner. Fuse the ball to the background following the package instructions.
Let the ball cool then mark the half circles with an erasable pen according to the pattern. Mark stitch lines on the half circles as pictured. Stitch on the marked lines with Aurifil 50 wt. thread (#2270) with a straight stitch on the sewing machine or hand embroider.
Stitch around the baseball with a straight, zigzag, or blanket stitch with Aurifl 50 wt. thread (#2024).
Step 3:
Adding Deco Foil letters is so fun. Print out letters on a computer. Trace the letters on the back (smooth side) of sheets of Deco Foil™ Hot Melt Adhesive. No reverse is needed. Cut out the letters and place them on the gray square using the picture as a guide.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to apply the hot melt letters.
Let the letters cool and peel off the paper.
Apply the Deco Foil™ to the letters following the instructions by the manufacturer. The “Play” will need several sheets of red Deco Foil transfer sheets. Iron by sections. This example was ironed in 5 sections. 1 for “Eat”, 1 for “Sleep”, and 3 for “Play.”
Tip: Pressure is key here. Really press the iron down. Ironing for a full 30 seconds with your iron on the medium/wool setting.TooltipText
Let the letters cool completely before removing the foil transfer sheets.
Step 4:
Prepare the quilted pillow top by making a quilt sandwich with muslin, high loft StitchNSew™ Fleece and the baseball top. Protect the work surface and place the muslin down. Spray it with SprayNBond basting spray, then place the StitchNSew Fleece on top and smooth all the wrinkles out with your hands. Spray the back of the pillow top and place on top of the fleece and smooth to baste the layers together. Next, quilt as desired with Aurifil thread (#2620) and trim to 17½” x 17 ½”.
Step 5:
Hem one of the long ends of both 17 ½” x 11½” gray pillow backing pieces by turning under ½” and pressing and then turning under again, pressing, and stitching in place. Lay one of the hemmed pieces right side down on the pillow top with the hem in the center. Overlap the other hemmed back piece. right side down with the hemmed edge in the middle. Pin the edges of the pillow top and stitch with a ¼” seam all around using a walking foot. Clip the corner seam allowances off and turn the pillow cover right side out. Push the corners out and pin the red edge.
Stitch in the ditch between the red border
and the gray top to form a faux piping and encase the raw edges inside.
Insert the 16” x 16” pillow form and it’s a home run!
