Since moving to our new home, I’ve been trying to find ways to decorate without breaking the bank. With Valentine’s Day coming up, I’m loving all the pinks, reds, and hearts. I wanted to keep the decor somewhat on the farmhouse/rustic side since it seems to fit really well. I can sometimes find cute decor pieces that fit this aesthetic when I’m out thrifting or shopping, but not always. I get impatient when I check here and there for weeks and can’t find anything. Therefore, I decided to sew these Valentine’s pillows.
This was my first sewing project in the home with very little experience. My grandma taught me to sew pillows and other items when I was younger, but it’s been years since I last used these skills. Even then, she often helped a lot with those projects. For this reason, my sewing lines on the Valentine’s pillows are far from perfect. That’s the lovely part of considering something rustic, it doesn’t have to be exact. I actually prefer the look too. This was a fun project for me to branch away from some of my canning recipes, like my honey cranberry juice or holiday jam. I love projects that add value to my home without breaking the bank.
Cost Breakdown
Overall these Valentine’s pillows cost me next to nothing as well. I purchased a lot more fabric than I needed to, so now I have it for future projects. The fabric came from Hobby Lobby when it was 40% off, and I spent about $15 on it (for about 3.5 yards). The thread was only a dollar, and the bag of polyfill was $3.57. Given I used less than half of the fabric I purchased, this ended up being very frugal. I could’ve sewn more, but it took me a while to get back into the swing of things and I got lazy lol.
I highly recommend this project, especially for the beginner. My skills were very rusty, yet I was able to make cute Valentine’s pillows without hurting my budget.
Valentine’s Sewing Materials
These are the fabrics I chose from Hobby Lobby for my Valentine’s pillows. They’re all 100% cotton with cute farmhouse prints. I didn’t necessarily want to go with true Valentine’s fabric with a bunch of hearts. Since my goal was the rustic look, I thought pink/red farmhouse prints would fit wonderfully.
My personal favorite was this distressed red stripe fabric. It was so simple but great for these Valentine’s pillows. I also think the pink gingham fabric really helped bring this seasonal look together. I did overdo it on the amount of fabric, as the two red ones are a yard long and the pink ones are three quarters. If you’re wanting to get just enough fabric for this project, I think you could get by with a quarter or half a yard each.
Other materials you’ll need are scissors, a pen, a box, and a sewing machine. I’d recommend getting fabric scissors as they’ll cut better. However, I was able to accomplish this with my normal kitchen scissors.
Steps
You’ll want to start by cutting out a heart from any box you have lying around the house. I just happened to have a cracker box so I used that. After freehand drawing the heart, I cut it out and traced it onto the fabric twice.
After tracing, you’ll want to cut out the pieces and match them up. This is where it’s totally fine if things don’t align exactly. Remember, this is all part of the rustic look.
Once aligned, you’ll sew along the edge while leaving a small border. When you’re close to finished sewing, pause and leave a one inch gap between the beginning and end of your thread. This is where you’ll stuff the heart with polyfill. After the heart is filled, close this gap by sewing from where you left off to the end. Then you’re done! Just repeat this process for however many hearts you’d like.
I hope you find this project to be simple yet beautiful. I absolutely love how these Valentine’s pillows turned out and can’t wait to make different kinds for future seasons.
Valentine's Heart Pillows Bowl Filler
Make these easy heart Valentine's pillows for the season with basic sewing materials.
Materials
- Cardboard box
- Chosen fabrics (ideally cotton)
- Polyfill
Tools
- Sewing Machine
- Scissors or fabric scissors
- Pen
Instructions
- Cut out a medium-sized piece of cardboard. Freehand draw your heart to the size you want. I made these hearts to be a bit of a medium-size. Cut out the heart.
- Once you have your heart, place it on the fabric you’re starting with. Trace the outline with a pen. You’ll trace two sides so you have a front and back.
- Cut out the hearts from the fabric. You may want to go just inside the pen lines, or clean it up a little off the fabric after you’ve sewn it.
- Line each side up with the pattern facing the outside. Then, start sewing around the heart. When you’re close to done, leave about a 1 inch gap.
- With this gap, you’ll stuff the polyfill in. After, sew over the gap.
- You’re done! Throw it into whatever bowl or basket you please. To get more hearts, just repeat this process.
Notes
It was tough to cut the hearts with my normal kitchen scissors. For the next project, I'll definitely be using fabric scissors.
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