pillow Archives - Spoonful of Imagination

The Plush Bear Tutorial

November 29, 2014 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

My seven year old cannot wait to be in charge. As the first born, he often thinks he is in charge or a part of our parental team. He’s smart and his processing is often spot on, but I try to gently remind him (sometimes more strongly than others) that he is a kid and to enjoy it!

Being a parent is one of the best jobs in the world. It is also one of the scariest. We are tools being used to shape a little ones outlook on life, character, sense of security, joy, peace, happiness, and all the other important outlooks on life (not to mention caring for the basic needs such as clothing, food, health, and a warm place to sleep). It’s a big responsibility. We know it. We feel it; but in a lot of ways we are set up to succeed, if we are humans.

Did you happen to see the Disney Bears movie this summer? This is in no way a pitch or sponsor post for Disney. We saw it as a family and I just love that movie.

I watched anxiously as a mama bear tried to navigate her two young cubs through a scary world. She protected them. She struggled to keep them safe and fed, and was always on the watch for those that could hurt her babies.

I could relate. Ever since that movie, I have had a fascination with bears. It was time I got one of my own. Although I have three little cubs under my roof, we needed a fury friend too. Here is how my plush bear came into existence. Be warned! I now want to make a whole collection of furry wild friends, and you may want to too!

It started as an idea to sketch a bear. Since we are in transition to our own place, I don’t have all my usual craft supplies on hand. I did have some creme fabric though, so I started sketching on that. I had some sharpies, pens, fabric markers, and I just started to go at it. Now, I had never drawn a bear before, but I simply googled “bear sketch” and there were pictures that popped up that gave me an idea of where to start. What would we do without google!?

I filled in my sketch with quick strokes to create a fur look. My goal was for the bear to definitely look like a bear, but to look simple and cartoon like. I think I got that. I cut the extra fabric off around my sketch. Be sure to leave enough margin to sew your sketch to a back fabric. Also, try to envision what cuts would make for a good pillow. In hind sight, I might have just cut one big oval out rather than cutting in to have the head and front and back paws in separate sections. It made it a bit trickier to stuff, but you will see that below.

I then laid my sketch face down on a towel. I folded my towel over to have it be extra thick and used both sides of it to create the back of my bear. I decided to use a towel because it was a thick, sturdy material, but it also had a fur like texture. You could use any fabric or left over material.

If I had my sewing machine, I would have then quickly sewn around to join the towel and bear sketch together. Note: Be sure to leave a two inch opening, so you will be able to flip your new pillow right side out and stuff. I forgot that step and had to go back and cut some slits.

Since I didn’t have my sewing machine, I did a quick in and out stitch by hand to join the materials together. It did not have to be perfect, since my main stitch was going to be on the outside.

This is a pretty mindless craft at this point. I had one of my favorite movies playing as I stitched. Can you guess the movie!?

I hand stitched a blanket stitch around the outside of my bear with yarn. I hadn’t done this is a long time, but by a simple Google search, I was able to see some pictures and learn how to complete this stitch. I love how it reinforces my bear, but also adds another texture and it looks so cute! Once the bear was stitched and stuffed to the thickness I liked, I simply stitched it close.

The last step was to admire and enjoy him! I am pretty obsessed with this little guy. I now want to make him some furry friends and use bright colored towels to make some creative rabbits, foxes, and maybe even a giraffe! Oh the possibilities! The most expensive craft supply was the bag of Poly-Fil. I used a whole bag. Depending on the size of your pillow you may need less or more.

I took my little bear around the farm for a photoshoot. What a good model! 🙂

What an inexpensive, fun craft to make! They would make great Christmas or holiday presents! Do you know a young child that would love a fun pillow?

If you have been following along with our move announcement, why we uprooted our family from sunny Atlanta to less-sunny northern Indiana, and how we have been adjusting, I would love for you to know we have found a house! We will be moving from our sweet friends’ basement into our own home in two weeks! Thank you for all the prayers, encouraging, and sweet comments as we have been transitioning to hooser territory!

Disclaimer: affiliate links were used in this blog post.

Yarn Pillow Tutorial

October 9, 2014 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

My fingers took one for creativity with this project. There were moments I am sure they were screaming at me to stop and be kind, but I kept telling them this project was worth it. I do believe it was!

I had this old pillow that I no longer really cared for. In our continual task of looking for things to purge rather than pack, I decided to makeover this pillow rather than part with it. I love the small rectangle size.

I’ve been on a yarn kick with my Adventure Awaits wall art, so I had this idea of using yarn in like an embroidery type way to decorate a pillow cover. I started with a big piece of burlap that I folded in half, so I had a thicker more dense burlap layer for my cover. I then sewed both layers of burlap to an old creme pillow case and cut the newly sewn (all four layer) pillow cover slightly bigger than my pillow. I just eye balled it an inch or two bigger on every side.

This was a thick dense cover and my fingers felt it as I pulled yarn through it. I learned the hard way, and I have a few ideas that can help you take this idea and make it easier for your fingers.

But first, you need a design. I decided to do something basic and a silhouette or shape to keep it easier to complete. Burlap was the perfect choice of fabric because it gave me a grid of lines to help make my design symmetrical and straight.

I drew an arrow on my burlap and then picked one color of yarn to sew around the border. I sewed the arrow like I would embroider a hoop. The difference was a thick, strong, sharp needle rather than a smaller needle with embroidery floss.

After my arrow was outlined, it was time for the fun part. I looked at my huge basket of colorful yarn and started sewing stripes one color at a time.

A few tips to help you:

Choose one color at a time and do all the stripes with that color at one time.

Change up the thickness of the stripes and order, so it is not in a pattern or equal strip widths (any slight difference of widths would be very obvious if trying to make them the same). The randomness is easier to pull off and I think the look would be the same.

Once I thought I had a wide enough strip, I cut the yarn and knotted the back.

The length of stitches can vary. I tried to offset each stitch to have the middle of one stitch hit the end of stitch in the row before it. This created a weave type look and prevented the yarn to look like it was in rows.

Use an embroidery hoop to help tighten the area you are currently working on and move the hoop as you progress.

Use a thimble (or kiss as Wendy said to Peter Pan) to help pull your yarn through. If you can see how dense my yarn arrow is filled in, the back is that thick as well, but also has the knots, so it is a lot of layers to continually pull your needle through

Ice your fingers 🙂 I worked on this an hour or two every night for a few days. It was fun and mindless, but I did ice my fingers a little afterwards and that prevented them from blistering or being sore the next day. I know, I know this is extreme… but hey, a crafter’s gotta do what a crafter’s gotta do, right!?

MAKE an EASIER design. I love this arrow and am so glad I went with my gut and filled it in as I saw pictured in my head. If I was to do another though, I would outline the arrow and maybe sew a word in it or just a few stripes. It would be a slightly different look, but use the same technique and be equally cool.

After I finished sewing my arrow, I made an envelope back like I did on my pillow shams. I decided to use my Waverly fabric I received from Online Fabric Store as part of my swag from Haven. I loved the black and white contrast with all the color on the front. I added a little pom-pom fringe on the envelope opening, so the back is just as fun as the front.

I absolutely love all the color and different pops of textures! It is such a fun element that can brighten up any space. I also love how this project didn’t cost me a thing. I had everything on hand. Recycling an old object can give new life and lengthen the enjoyment of something. That old pillow has never looked better.

Right now I am carrying this pillow with me around the house and playing with it in different rooms. I like it in every single one. I might need to make some more yarn embellished pillows.

What do you think!? Do you recycle your old pillows too!? Would you add yarn embellishments to a pillow like me?

This world would be a much boring place without color. I love it. I hope you are able to add some color to your life and use your imagination this week!

He’s Got The Whole World in HIS hands (including my world)

September 4, 2014 By Erica Deuel 6 Comments

Do you know the song?

It’s a song from my childhood.

“He’s got the sun and the rain in his hands.

He’s got the moon and the stars in his hands.

He’s got the wind and clouds in his hands

He’s got the whole world in his hands.”

I hear it in my head, and if I could sing worth anything I would sing it for you all.

One of the last lines is “He’s got everybody, everywhere in his hands.” It’s a child like song, and the message can get lost in the repetitiveness, but when I sit and think about it, I am amazed. I can’t even keep my house in order, but God has the whole world in his hands.

It’s the hard moments, when life isn’t going as planned, when we are forced to sit…maybe be patient…or find contentment in our circumstances that we just don’t like…that trusting this little phrase to be true can seem massively hard. It can feel like you are falling through the gaps in his hands.

I have found myself relearning a hard lesson again. I am not in control. I did my part to prep this house to sell and although I said it is now in God’s hands….I have not been living that in my heart. I thought my beautiful creations and staging could pull them in by now (its been just over two weeks).

Pride and disappointment built a lot of anger. This week was hard. I was annoyed at every showing. It was in my way. It messed with our school day. I was tired of cleaning this house.

I still am.

But my eyes are open. I am not in control. Although I do wish this house would sell, so this phase of waiting is over….it is out of my control.

I sit and wait. Maybe God is not finished with us here or maybe a dream home in IN is not available for us yet. I do not know his plans. I wish I did, but I need to trust that HE does have the whole world in his hands and that includes me and my little world.

No matter what, I want God’s will to reign over our lives. I believe his plan is best. With his plan, is his timing. So, I hang my head, ask my family to forgive my angry, prideful heart, put my trust back in Jesus hands…again. It’s a daily thing. Praise Jesus for Amazing Grace!

I might not be happy to vacuum my house for what seems like the 100th time in a week, but I will smile and be kinder knowing that I have a heavenly father watching over me and he has not forgotten me.

This is a season, I may feel like I can’t do it, but HE can do it through me.

So, friends if you too find yourself in circumstances you don’t like. Drink a cup of something you enjoy, breath, get outside and play, do something you love (like painting a pillowcase), eat some Skittles, buy yourself some flowers, and wait.

We don’t know why we are in these circumstances, we may never know, but we can find peace in knowing God sees the whole story and he still has us in his mighty hands.

Georgia on My Mind and on My Pillow

August 4, 2014 By Erica Deuel 3 Comments

Sometimes in life we have time to process and prepare for change. There are other moments in life where we don’t, and we can feel robbed or cheated. I am continually thankful that we had time to process, prepare, cry and cherish our last days with our sweet foster son. We are still largely processing all that we experienced and what God wants for us, but one thing I am continually so grateful for is God’s faithfulness.

One of my outlets for processing change and all that life throws my way is crafting. This past weekend, with a million things on my to-do list, I snuck away to my sewing machine for an hour and created this embellished pillow. What can I say, it’s like therapy. While I process life, all that’s going on, and all the things ahead I’m thinking a lot about my roots, where I’m from, and all those special people who have invested in me along the way. So naturally being a good Southern girl, I have Georgia on my mind, and now I have it on my pillow too!

Follow along and you too can make a state pride piece for your home.

I started with a plain dark grey, simple pillow case. I have had this one for sometime, but it didn’t look right in my home without a little jazz. So I decided to add my state outline to it. It is no secret that embellishing an already existing item can make a very easy craft. It can often times make your project cheaper. Just like my felt heart pillow, this state pillow will turn a dull boring pillow into a fun statement piece.

I Googled “GA outline” and printed my favorite one, pinned it to my fabric, and cut the paper and fabric at the same time to give me a Georgia fabric silhouette. You could repeat this process with any state or country that is special to you.

I then pinned that fabric silhouette to a piece of burlap and cut about 1/4″ off the fabric silhouette to give the state a burlap border.

I then used some scrap felt to cut out a heart. I placed this where our capital would be on a map. We live in a northern suburb of Atlanta, so it only seemed appropriate to make sure it is represented on the state. I embroidered the heart in place and then sewed the whole piece onto my existing pillowcase.

I love how it turned out! It added a punch of personality and fun to a rather boring pillow.

You could use this idea for any state, shape, or symbol! My bench is like a rotating canvas to hold my pillow obsession.

Are you an inward processor too? What activity helps you process?? I’m always up for new things. I wish I could journal, but then again maybe this is my journal.

I hope you all are having a good week! Find a way to use your imagination and dream big dreams with me!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: