Mickey & Minnie Inspired Pillows

Today I am sharing the tutorial for my Mickey and Minnie inspired pillows that were my entry in this week's So You Think You're Crafty Competition. The theme was Disney Inspired and really, what says Disney more than Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

It is kind of funny sometimes how ideas evolve before they become the finished project. When I started thinking about what I could make for the theme one of the first ideas that popped into my head was pillows. I think it was actually something my daughter said to me that gave me the idea, but I wasn't thinking Mickey and Minnie at the time. I was actually thinking of princesses. I was trying to think of a way I could make pillows that were somehow inspired by there outfits, something that even though it was just a square,when you looked at it you would recognize the outfit and the princess. I drew lots of little doodles in my notebook trying to think of how to make what was in my head actually work. I was worried it was going to be too complicated because each dress is so different and I just wasn't sure my idea was going to work. One night I was trying to explain my idea to my husband to see what he thought. I was trying to draw it to give him a better idea and as I was drawing different versions of princesses I thought of Mickey and quickly drew something that looked like the Mickey pillow. It was just a pencil drawing, no color or anything and Jake immediately recognized it as Mickey, the others I had to explain what they were supposed to be. That made me think that maybe Mickey was the way to go. Then Jake suggested that I make a Mickey and a Minnie and I thought why not. Minnie was a little trickier to figure out just because I wasn't sure how to make it look girly, like her dress. I decided to add a little bit of white lace along the bottom of the "skirt" section and then add a big, puffy, polka dot bow at the top, because you can't really do Minnie without her bow.  I really wanted to make something that was recognizable even as a square pillow and I think Mickey and Minnie ended up being the perfect choice. I knew I had made a good choice when I went to buy some fabric and I brought my stack of black, yellow and red polka dotted fabric to the cutting counter and the employee immediately asked if I was making a Minnie Mouse project.

The pillows were really simple to make, basically just a couple of seams for the front, hem the back flaps and sew it all together. The only little extras really are just adding Mickey's buttons and Minnie's bow and those are pretty easy too. I appliquéd the buttons on by first ironing it on with fusible web and then sewing it on with a zigzag stitch. Another even easier option would be to use heat transfer vinyl, then you can just iron it on and not need to sew around it. Either way it is pretty easy.

How to Make Mickey and Minnie Inspired Pillows

Finished size 16" square (1/4" seam allowances are used)

You will need:

1 yard black fabric

1/4 yard red fabric

1/4 yard red and white polka dot fabric

1/8 yard yellow fabric

small scrap of white fabric

small scrap of fusible web

1/2 yard 1" white eyelet lace

small amount of stuffing

2- 16" pillow inserts

Instructions:

Cut-

• from black: 2- 6 1/2" x 16 1/2" rectangles
• from black: 4- 16 1/2" x 11" rectangles
• from red: 1- 7 1/2" x 16 1/2" rectangle
• from red and white polka dot: 1- 7 1/2" x 16 1/2" rectangle
• from red and white polka dot: 2- 5" x 6" rectangle
• from red and white polka dot: 1- 2 1/2" x 4" rectangle
• from yellow: 2- 3 1/2" x 16 1/2" rectangles

Assemble-

Sew the pillow fronts together by first sewing the red piece to the black piece for Mickey and the polka dot piece to the black piece for Minnie. Then sew the yellow rectangle on the bottom of the red for Mickey. For Minnie, you will sew the lace between the polka dots and the yellow. I find it easiest to first baste the lace and then sew the bottom strip on. For the Mickey pillow you will want to sew the button appliqués on next. Cut 2 small oval shapes form white fabric and fusible web, mine are about 1 1/4" x 1 3/4".  Place them on the front of pillow and iron on, mine are about 5 1/2 inches from the sides and about an inch from the top of the red section. Zigzag stitch around the outside of the oval to secure. Pillow fronts are done.

For the back hem one long edge of each of the 4 back flaps. Then place the back flaps on the pillow fronts right sides together so that the raw edges all line up and the hemmed edges overlap in the center. Sew all the way around the outside of the pillow. Turn right side out.

To make Minnie's bow use the 2 5"x 6" rectangles, draw a puffy bow shape that fits on the fabric. Sew around the bow leaving a small opening for turning and stuffing. Trim if needed, clip curves, turn right side out. Stuff lightly, just enough to make the bow a little puffy. Fold the 2 1/2" strip in half to make a 1 1/4" strip, sew, turn right side out and press. Wrap around the center of the bow, trim off any excess length and stitch closed, I did this part by hand, then tack on to the top of the Minnie pillow, a couple of stitches in the middle and a couple of stitches on the bow part just to secure it. 

Put pillow inserts into pillow covers. 

I hope you enjoy this fun, Disney Inspired, project. I really enjoyed making them. Stay tuned for another Minnie Mouse inspired project that I made with the scraps that I had left over.