Appliqued Pillows

Let me just start off by saying that I love all of the kids in my life dearly, my niece and nephew and little cousin's mean so much to me. I love being called Aunt Kim or Aunt Im depending on who you're talking to and I love that they are so close in age to my own kids. I know that they are forming a bond that will last forever. So whenever holidays come around I find myself sewing for not two but four or more kids every time ( last Easter I made close to 10 little bunnies). I just feel like handemade gifts mean so much and I want to share them with my loved wee ones. So even though it may mean some late nights I am up to the task because its worth it when I see a little one running around with a toy I made, or wearing something I stitched. So this year I wanted to make personalized pillows since my kids and my niece are having their rooms redone. I did some major stash busting on this project and only bought two half yards of fabric from the remnant bin. Basically I wrote out the names on my wonder under, remembering to make the letters backwards so that they will be right side when reversed, then I ironed them to a variety of coordinating fabrics to match each room theme. I then figured out how big to cut out my pillow by laying the letters out on top of my fabric and leaving a few inches on each side (I just eyeballed it). Once I had my two rectangles cut out I layed my letters out again and after peeling the paper off of them, ironed them down. Next I carefully zigzagged around every letter with the smallest zig zag stitch on my machine. When that was all done (and believe me it takes a lot of patience) I placed the pillow pieces right sides together and stitched almost all the way around, leaving a small opening at the bottom for stuffing. Then I flipped it right sides out and stuffed. Last I tucked in my raw edges and stitched up. For the one that says "Kayleigh" I also added bows and a button. I still have one more to make for my nephew so hopefully I will get to that tonight. I think this may be the present that I make for all of Sweets' friend's birthdays this year, it was really easy and would probably be quick if you weren't mass producing them. :)