Heart Applique Pillow
Happy Valentine’s Day! It is that time of year and I decided I had to squeeze in one quick Valentines inspired project before the holiday just passes by and came up with this little fun, quick project.
This tutorial is for the hear appliqué process on a 16 x 16 inch square pillow. However, you could easily adjust the measurements to fit whatever any size pillow or put on a tote bag. There are so many options.
Materials
2- 12“x12” pieces of fabric
Heat n’ Bond Interfacing
Scissors, Rotary Blade, or Cricut Cut Machine
16” Pillow cover or fabric
Ruler
PDF or SVG File
Fabric Marker
Iron and Ironing Board
Prepping
With this project new need to prep our materials before we do anything. I used some scrap cotton fabric I had so I just cut out an approximate 12'“x12” square of each of the colors I wanted to use. Then I did the same with my interfacing. Placing the interfacing on the back of the fabric you want to use an iron to adhere the pieces together. This will stiffen the fabric and help it from fraying. Heat n’ Bond works best for appliqué but you can use basic interfacing if you are not picky.
You also want to prep your pillow or item you are applying the image too. I used canvas fabric to cut out two larger squares to make a 16” pillow. You can make your own square pillow like me or buy a pre-made form or canvas bag or shirt. Really any black fabric item you could use.
Cutting Instructions
Now, there are several ways you can go about getting your appliqué pieces cut.
Free Hand
Using your fabric marker. You can draw your own heart and letters to the size you want directly onto your fabric. Taking your sewing scissors, go ahead and cut those shapes out and piece them together.
I can be a perfectionists at many times so I often like a template to follow. Make sure its pretty! If this is also you then you can use our download as a PDF or SVG file to create your heart image.
PDF
Download the file and using your basic printer, print out the image. Original image is 11.5'“x11.5” so you will need to do some taping. cut out each of the pieces separately and use them as pattern pieces to cut out your heart and letters.
Finally, it you have a wonderful Cricut or Silhouette machine you can use this. A new sharp blade is always best when cutting fabric and you will need the make sure you have that Heat n’ Bond interfacing on their to give the fabric the stiffness it needs to be cut properly.
SVG
Download the SVG File, and Upload it into Cricut Design Space. From here you can make any size adjustments if your heart desires. But you will to attach the images together before you cut. I always like to attach my letters together before cutting but you will also need to attach the hearts so they cut the middle open as well as the outside. There should be two medium size hearts when it uploads. Attach the biggest heart to one of the mediums and then find the second medium heart and attach it to the smallest. That will tell the machine to cut out the middle of the hearts to get the look we wanted. Place you fabric on the Cricut mat and push through to the cut screen to start cutting.
Time to Sew
Taking the ‘front’ piece of the pillow I am using I laid out all the heart pieces centering them. Then I pinned them in place so they would not wiggle while I am trying to sew.
Go ahead and move over to your machine. Pick a spot to start on your heart, lining up the presser foot so that your stitches are about 1/8” inside the fabric from the edge. And sew all the way around. Repeat on the inside cutout of the same heart and then move to the second heart and do it all again.
After the hearts you can line up your letters on top and stitch around them as well. The letters you are going to have to go much slower and take your time and use small pivots while going to keep your stitches inside the letters.
And That’s It!
Once you have everything sewn on you are done. Press it out one last time and sew up the pillow (if you need too.) And you have a quick, fun sewing project for Valentine’s Day!
