Kid's Halloween Pillows

These Halloween pillows were my project for week 2 of So You Think You're Crafty, Kids Can Do was the theme. I haven't really done a lot of kid's craft projects on my blog but it is something I have been wanting to do more of for a long time. I think it is so important for kids to have opportunities to be creative and to learn how to create. When I was deciding on a project I wanted something that they could do from start to finish, with varying degrees of help depending on their age and abilities. I wanted them to start with the design and then see their idea become a reality.


I remembered one of the first sewing projects that I ever made was a little stuffed pillow that was shaped like a bear head, basically just a circle with ears sewn on. I made it as part of a little 4-H class that I took in our town. I remember loving that little bear pillow. It was lumpy and misshapen, the face was made with puffy paint, bluish-green circles for the eyes and a red mouth, but it was mine. I had made it myself and as a probably 8 or 9 year old kid, that made it really cool. I even still have it somewhere. I wanted my kids to feel that same sense of satisfaction in having made something of their own.

I thought that with Halloween coming up it would be fun to make them Halloween themed but really you could do anything. The only thing is that you want to make sure it is a really simple shape. For that reason I suggested that my kids draw either a pumpkin, a ghost, or a cat face. One of them chose a pumpkin and the other chose a ghost. The other thing is that I think it is important to take into consideration your kids age and skill level and adapt accordingly. One of the two of my kids that made the pillows did a lot more herself than the other simply because she is older and has experience with the sewing machine. I also found that for us it was easier to draw a line for them to sew on and then cut it out rather than cut it out and then try to sew it.

Do you want to make some cute little pillows with your kids? Here are the steps we used to make ours-

How To Make Kid's Halloween Pillows

You will need:

• Paper and pencils for drawing
• fabric piece large enough to fit 2 of your pillow drawings with extra room around the outside (fleece works well because it is soft and doesn't fray)
• scraps of fleece or felt for faces
• marking pen or pencil (I used an Ultra Fine Sharpie)
• Glue gun or fabric glue
• coordinating thread
• sewing machine

Instructions:

The first thing that you will need is for the child to draw a picture. We made our pillows small enough  that the kids just drew their pictures on a piece of printer paper, if you wanted larger pillows you would need to use a bigger piece of paper. I would suggest very simple shapes, not something that has arms or legs or other appendages as a beginner project. There are lots of different shapes you could make, Halloween themed or not.

Cut two pieces of fabric larger than the picture (you can just cut a rectangle, it doesn't need to be shaped like the picture). Place the two pieces of fabric right sides together.

Cut out the picture (or trace it or make a copy if you don't want to ruin the original picture) and using the marking pen trace around the picture onto the wrong side of on of the pieces of fabric fabric. Make sure the line is visible because they will be sewing on this line, also be sure not to trace it too close to the edge, you need to leave a seam allowance. 

Help your child sew along the line through both layers of fabric, leave an opening for turning.

Trim around the shape leaving a seam allowance, about 1/2".

Turn right side out and stuff, sew the opening closed by hand.

Cut out the features and glue them onto the front of pillow, if you are using hot glue you will probably want to help with this step.

It was so fun to watch my kids after they finished their pillows. They were so proud of what they had made. They thought it was so cool to see their pictures turn into pillows. They carried them around all day and slept with them at night. They both still have them on their beds. I love seeing my kids be creative, make things, and feel that sense of pride in their creation.