Vintage Camper Pillow

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In my family growing up family vacations in the summer usually meant camping. I have spent most of my life in the western United States, mostly in Utah and Idaho, where there are mountains and beautiful areas to camp. One year we all saved up our money to buy a camper so we could take that camping with us. I have lots of good memories of taking that camper places with my family. Then when we got the LEGO set I shared in my last post it made me think of that and I decided I wanted to crochet a camper.

Even though my inspiration for this project was the camper we had when I was a kid, and a LEGO set, it actually looks nothing like either of those. Our camper was the kind that fits in the bed of a truck and the LEGO camper was a trailer style like this one but not the same shape at all. I know the more rounded vintage style campers are pretty popular right now, and I figured t would be a lot cuter than a boxier trailer. So, that is the style I decided to go with. 

It isn't a huge pillow but I thought it turned out really cute.  The main part of the camper is crocheted in two identical pieces, a front and back, that are stitched together. The window and door are stitched on the front. I added a little bunting across the top as a fun little something extra.

How to Crochet a Vintage Camper Pillow

You will need:

• worsted weight yarn in teal, white, gray, light blue (All Thing You Essential Worsted in Teal, White, True Gray, and Clear Blue)
• sport weight yarn in 4 colors and tan for the bunting (Darice Silky Soft in Baby Pink, Baby Blue, Orchid, Yellow, and Tan)
• G crochet hook
• yarn needle
• Poly-Fil Fiberfill
• scissors

Instructions:

The camper pillow is made in two main pieces, a back and a front, then the window, door, tire, and bunting are stitched on. The main pieces are stitched together with a round of single crochet and stuffed. 

Camper

Make 2

These pieces are worked from the bottom up in two colors. One side is a little bit pointier, and one side is rounder, the rounder side is the "front" of the camper, the pointer side the "back. This is important when you are stitching on the door, window, and tire. The window and tire are stitched towards the back end and the door is more towards the front end, you will also make a hitch on the front while stitching the two sides together. 

begin with teal yarn 

ch 31

Row 1: sk 1st ch (turning ch, does not count as a stitch), sc in next 29 ch, 2 sc in last ch (31 sc)

Row 2: ch 1, turn, 2 sc in first stitch, sc in next 29 stitches, 2 sc in last stitch (33 sc)

Row 3: ch 1, turn, sc in next 32 stitches, 2 sc in last stitch (34 sc)

Row 4: ch 1, turn, 2 sc in first stitch, sc in next 32 stitches, 2 sc in last stitch (36 sc)

Row 5: ch 1, turn, sc in next 35 stitches, 2 sc in last stitch (37 sc)

Row 6: ch 1, turn, 2 sc in first stitch, sc in next 35 stitches, 2 sc in last stitch (39 sc)

Row 7: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each stitch (39 sc)

Row 8: ch 1, turn, 2 sc in first stitch, sc in next 37 stitches, 2 sc in last stitch (41 sc)

Row 9: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each stitch (41 sc)

Row 10: ch 1, turn, 2 sc in first stitch, sc in next 39 stitches, 2 sc in last stitch (43 sc)

Row 11: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each stitch (43 sc)

Row 12: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each stitch (43 sc)

Row 13: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each stitch (43 sc)

change to white yarn

Row 14: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each stitch (43 sc)

Row 15: ch 1, turn, sc in 41 stitches, sc2tog (42 sc)

Row 16: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each stitch (42 sc)

Row 17: ch 1, turn, sc in 40 stitches, sc2tog (41 sc)

Row 18: ch 1, turn, sc2tog, sc in next 37 stitches, sc2tog (39 sc)

Row 19: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each stitch (39 sc)

Row 20: ch 1, turn, sc2tog, sc in next 37 stitches (38 sc)

Row 21: ch 1, turn, sc2tog, sc in next 34 stitches, sc2tog (36 sc)

Row 22: ch 1, turn, 1 sc in each stitch (36 sc)

Row 23: ch 1, turn, sc in 34 stitches, sc2tog (35 sc)

Row 24: ch 1, turn, sc in 33 stitches, sc2tog (34 sc)

Row 25: ch 1, turn, sc in 32 stitches, sc2tog (33 sc)

Row 26: ch 1, turn, sc2tog, sc in next 29 stitches, sc2tog (31 sc)

Row 27: ch 1, turn, sc in 29 stitches, sc2tog (30 sc)

Row 28: ch 1, turn, sc2tog, sc in next 26 stitches, sc2tog (28 sc)

Row 29: ch 1, turn, sc2tog, sc in next 24 stitches, sc2tog (26 sc)

Row 30: ch 1, turn, sc2tog, sc in next 22 stitches, sc2tog (24 sc)

Row 31: ch 1, turn, sc2tog, sc in next 19 stitches, sc3tog (21 sc)

Row 32:ch 1, turn, sc3tog, sc in next 15 stitches, sc3tog (17 sc)

finish off, cut yarn and weave in ends

Door

use white yarn

ch 10

Row 1: dc in 4th ch from hook (beginning ch 3 counts as a dc) and each ch across (8 dc)

Row 2-9: ch 3 (counts as first dc), turn, dc in each stitch across (8 dc)

finish off, cut yarn

switch to gray yarn

attach gray yarn anywhere along the edge and sc evenly all the way around the door, working 3 sc in corners

finish off, cut yarn leaving a very long tail for sewing

Window

use light blue yarn

ch 12

Row 1: dc in 4th ch from hook (beginning ch 3 counts as a dc) and each ch across (10 dc)

Row 2-3: ch 3 (counts as first dc), turn, dc in each stitch across (10 dc)

finish off, cut yarn

switch to gray yarn

attach gray yarn anywhere along the edge and sc evenly all the way around the door, working 3 sc in corners

finish off, cut yarn leaving a very long tail for sewing

Tire

begin with gray yarn and a magic ring

Round 1: in mr, ch 2 (does not count as a stitch), 10 hdc, join to first hdc with sl st (10 hdc)

switch to black yarn

Round 2: ch 2, 2 hdc in each stitch, join to first hdc with sl st (20 hdc)

Round 3: ch 1, [2 sc in first stitch, 1 hdc in next] repeat around, join with sl st to first sc (30 sc)

finish off, cut yarn leaving long tail for sewing

Bunting

Make 4 triangles, I made one each of 4 different colors of sport weight yarn, blue, yellow, pink, and purple

ch 5

sl st in first ch, sc in next, hdc in next, dc in next, tr in last

finish off and cut ends (I just tied the ends behind the triangle and trimmed the ends close, you could weave in your ends if you prefer)

with tan yarn leave a long tail, ch 3, sl st across the top of the first triangle, ch 2, sl st across the top of the next triangle, ch 2, repeat for the next 2 triangles, ch 3 after the last triangle is added, cut yarn leaving a tail for sewing

Assembly 

I sewed the door and the window on to the front of my pillow before stitching the two sides together, the tire and bunting were sewn on after. 

Stitch the door on towards the front end of the front piece close to the bottom, as you get to the side of the door add a stitch on the front of the door to make a door handle.

Stitch the window so that the top is about even with the door, the whole window should be on the white half above the color change.

Place the two camper pieces so that the shapes match up and the door and window are facing up

With gray yarn, starting at the back, sc across the bottom going through both layers to stitch them together, work 2 sc in the corner and turn so you are working up the side, work 1 or 2 sc on the side then ch 10, skip 5 ch, sc in last 5 (this creates your hitch), continue to sc around the entire pillow as evenly as possible, you may need to work 2 sc in on stitch in some places to accommodate the curves, once you are about 3/4 of the way finished begin stuffing your pillow, continue to stuff as you finish stitching it closed.

Stitch the tire to the back end of the pillow front under the window, I had my tire going over the edge slightly so I only stitched around the top half of the tire.

Stitch the ends of the bunting on the top of the pillow over the corner above the door.

Make sure all of your ends are woven in and you r cute little camper pillow is done. 

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