Snuggles and Cuddles DIY Pillow with Pom Poms

These Snuggle and Cuddle DIY pillows are designed for the cooler months.  These cushions are going to be part of my Christmas guest bedroom for adults.

The best part of a DIY project is you can make them in any colours you want.   The red lettering and black pom poms match my Christmas decor. The pillows are oblong shaped so there is room for the longer wording.  To fit some of my old oblong cushion inserts, I made my cushion covers 13″ by 19 inches.

If you want to skip the sewing I suggest purchasing an oblong pillow form and white cover from IKEA.  All the IKEA oblong pillows and inserts are a bit larger  16″ by 26″.  They do cost more but time is money, right?  It’s still a less expensive option than purchasing fancy cushions.

How to Make a Pillow Cover

Every cushion cover I make is done exactly the same way.  Once you learn this method it takes about 15 minutes to sew a cushion together.  The cushion covers can be a different size or colour, but the basic how-to is identical.

The Fabric

For these Snuggles and Cuddles cushions, I used a bleached drop cloth as my stock of it seems to last forever.  You can use any type of heavy cotton or muslin that you like.  For each cushion, you will need the following amount of fabric.

One piece of fabric cut to 15 by 21″ (front panel)

Two pieces of fabric cut to 11 by 21″ (back panels)

Sewing a DIY Cushion Cover

Starting with the 11″ by 21″ pieces of fabric. Hem one long side.  Fold one long edge over 1/2 an inch press.  Then fold over again at one inch.  Press well, and sew to create a hem.  Repeat with the other 11″ by 21″ pieces.

Serger or zigzag stitch around all raw edges of your fabric on all the pieces.

Attach the front 15 by 21″ piece of fabric to the two back pieces.  Place the front piece of fabric good side up and the two back pieces good side down.

Make sure the hemmed edges overlap in the middle.  Pin everything into place and sew seams all around the outside.

Painting Letters onto a DIY Pillow Cover

Fabric Painting Supplies

To paint the letters onto the cushion covers you will need.  Bright red fabric paint, or a tiny bit of acrylic paint and fabric medium.  My cushions are done with leftover Behr red paint from making signs and Martha Stewart’s fabric medium.  I used 1/2 tsp of fabric medium and 1 tsp of paint.

Besides the paint you will need:

Carbon paper

A piece of cardboard

Pins, a ruler

Small artist brush

The Cuddle Template and the Snuggle Templates

Note about the templates.  You will find two clean pdf files.  As the word Snuggle refused to pdf with the full letter g’s.  There is a marked-up jpeg Snuggle file where I drew in the full letters if you prefer.

Print out the templates.

Line the template pages up, fold over so the letter e looks right.  Fold the paper over and tape in place.  Measure the distance from the edge of the first letter to the paper edge (1.25″) then measure the same distance from the other end (1.25)”.  Cut off the excess paper so that the wording is in the center of the template.

Place a cardboard inside of your cushion to make sure no paint transfers through to the other side.  It also provides a hard surface and a surface to pin to.

Center your Snuggle or Cuddle template on the cushion.  Pin the top in place, remeasure and leave the pins in.

Place a piece of carbon paper underneath the template.

Trace the letters, you can flip the template over to check that the lettering transferred.  Redo if it hasn’t.

Once transferred unpin the template.

Using a small brush and the paint fill in the lettering.  Take your time, and be careful not to splatter any paint onto your cushion material.

Let dry for an hour and then seal with a hot iron.  Place a rag or parchment paper over the paint and press for 10 – 15 seconds.  This part of the project took about two hours, an hour to transfer the pattern, and an hour to fill the lettering on both cushions with paint.

Making Pom Poms for a DIY Pillow

Last Christmas I made this adorable Pom Pom wreath using 50 pom poms.  By comparison, these DIY cushion covers are a breeze.  I still have the Clover brand pom pom maker I purchased last year and I still love it.  For the two cushions, you only need 8 pom poms.  I made them while watching TV in the evening it took two hours while I was concentrating on a movie.

Here is what the Clover Pom Pom Maker looks like.  You will need the large blue on for these cushions.  Unfortunately, it was after midnight so I am using old photos to show the process.

Open your Pom Pom maker.

Wrap the wool around the blue parts of the maker until it is full of wool. Try and wrap the wool around the maker in a straight line.  Keeping the wraps straight means a neater pom pom and less trimming once you’re done.

Wrap the wool around both sides of the maker until as full as you can get it.  Close the blue sections.

Cut the wool with scissors where I have the blue arrow.

Do not use wool to tie your pom pom together, use dental floss.

Dental floss is much thinner and stronger than wool or string, so you can pull it really tight resulting in a much more secure pom pom.  Take about 18 inches of floss and wrap it around the pom pom maker where you just cut the wool.  Pull the floss as tight as you can and add knot firmly.  You need long tails of floss to attach it to the cushion, so don’t trim them.

Pull the two sides of your pom pom maker apart to release the pom pom.  Place them back together and start on the next one.

Adding the Pom Poms to the DIY Pillow Cover

Last part is super easy.  You need a darning needle.

Find the corner of your cushion.

Thread the darning needle with on side of the floss. Pull the floss through the corner of the cushion.  Remove the needle from the floss.

Thread the needle with the other section of the floss, and pass it through the cushion.  Make sure the holes where the floss goes through are close together but not in the same hole.

Flip to the inside of your cushion and tie the dental floss.  Make sure you pom pom is the way you want it before knotting.    If you happened to go through any seam allowances etc. you may want to pull the dental floss out before tying.

I tied my dental floss four times to be sure and trimmed the floss at an inch.

Repeat for the other corners.

If you like this and don’t have the time.  Please pin it for later.

These cushions took me about four maybe five hours in the evening to make two of them.  They were actually free for me to make, but now I need to bleach some more drop cloth.

I may end up giving this away as a gift, but for now, they are bedroom decor.

Happy Crafting

Leanna

iSnuggles and Cuddles DIY Pillow with Pom Poms

These Snuggle and Cuddle DIY pillows are designed for the cooler months.  These cushions are going to be part of my Christmas guest bedroom for adults.

The best part of a DIY project is you can make them in any colours you want.   The red lettering and black pom poms match my Christmas decor. The pillows are oblong shaped so there is room for the longer wording.  To fit some of my old oblong cushion inserts, I made my cushion covers 13″ by 19 inches.

If you want to skip the sewing I suggest purchasing an oblong pillow form and white cover from IKEA.  All the IKEA oblong pillows and inserts are a bit larger  16″ by 26″.  They do cost more but time is money, right?  It’s still a less expensive option than purchasing fancy cushions.

How to Make a Pillow Cover

Every cushion cover I make is done exactly the same way.  Once you learn this method it takes about 15 minutes to sew a cushion together.  The cushion covers can be a different size or colour, but the basic how-to is identical.

The Fabric

For these Snuggles and Cuddles cushions, I used a bleached drop cloth as my stock of it seems to last forever.  You can use any type of heavy cotton or muslin that you like.  For each cushion, you will need the following amount of fabric.

One piece of fabric cut to 15 by 21″ (front panel)

Two pieces of fabric cut to 11 by 21″ (back panels)

Sewing a DIY Cushion Cover

Starting with the 11″ by 21″ pieces of fabric. Hem one long side.  Fold one long edge over 1/2 an inch press.  Then fold over again at one inch.  Press well, and sew to create a hem.  Repeat with the other 11″ by 21″ pieces.

Serger or zigzag stitch around all raw edges of your fabric on all the pieces.

Attach the front 15 by 21″ piece of fabric to the two back pieces.  Place the front piece of fabric good side up and the two back pieces good side down.

Make sure the hemmed edges overlap in the middle.  Pin everything into place and sew seams all around the outside.

Painting Letters onto a DIY Pillow Cover

Fabric Painting Supplies

To paint the letters onto the cushion covers you will need.  Bright red fabric paint, or a tiny bit of acrylic paint and fabric medium.  My cushions are done with leftover Behr red paint from making signs and Martha Stewart’s fabric medium.  I used 1/2 tsp of fabric medium and 1 tsp of paint.

Besides the paint you will need:

Carbon paper

A piece of cardboard

Pins, a ruler

Small artist brush

The Cuddle Template and the Snuggle Templates

Note about the templates.  You will find two clean pdf files.  As the word Snuggle refused to pdf with the full letter g’s.  There is a marked-up jpeg Snuggle file where I drew in the full letters if you prefer.

Print out the templates.

Line the template pages up, fold over so the letter e looks right.  Fold the paper over and tape in place.  Measure the distance from the edge of the first letter to the paper edge (1.25″) then measure the same distance from the other end (1.25)”.  Cut off the excess paper so that the wording is in the center of the template.

Place a cardboard inside of your cushion to make sure no paint transfers through to the other side.  It also provides a hard surface and a surface to pin to.

Center your Snuggle or Cuddle template on the cushion.  Pin the top in place, remeasure and leave the pins in.

Place a piece of carbon paper underneath the template.

Trace the letters, you can flip the template over to check that the lettering transferred.  Redo if it hasn’t.

Once transferred unpin the template.

Using a small brush and the paint fill in the lettering.  Take your time, and be careful not to splatter any paint onto your cushion material.

Let dry for an hour and then seal with a hot iron.  Place a rag or parchment paper over the paint and press for 10 – 15 seconds.  This part of the project took about two hours, an hour to transfer the pattern, and an hour to fill the lettering on both cushions with paint.

Making Pom Poms for a DIY Pillow

Last Christmas I made this adorable Pom Pom wreath using 50 pom poms.  By comparison, these DIY cushion covers are a breeze.  I still have the Clover brand pom pom maker I purchased last year and I still love it.  For the two cushions, you only need 8 pom poms.  I made them while watching TV in the evening it took two hours while I was concentrating on a movie.

Here is what the Clover Pom Pom Maker looks like.  You will need the large blue on for these cushions.  Unfortunately, it was after midnight so I am using old photos to show the process.

Open your Pom Pom maker.

Wrap the wool around the blue parts of the maker until it is full of wool. Try and wrap the wool around the maker in a straight line.  Keeping the wraps straight means a neater pom pom and less trimming once you’re done.

Wrap the wool around both sides of the maker until as full as you can get it.  Close the blue sections.

Cut the wool with scissors where I have the blue arrow.

Do not use wool to tie your pom pom together, use dental floss.

Dental floss is much thinner and stronger than wool or string, so you can pull it really tight resulting in a much more secure pom pom.  Take about 18 inches of floss and wrap it around the pom pom maker where you just cut the wool.  Pull the floss as tight as you can and add knot firmly.  You need long tails of floss to attach it to the cushion, so don’t trim them.

Pull the two sides of your pom pom maker apart to release the pom pom.  Place them back together and start on the next one.

Adding the Pom Poms to the DIY Pillow Cover

Last part is super easy.  You need a darning needle.

Find the corner of your cushion.

Thread the darning needle with on side of the floss. Pull the floss through the corner of the cushion.  Remove the needle from the floss.

Thread the needle with the other section of the floss, and pass it through the cushion.  Make sure the holes where the floss goes through are close together but not in the same hole.

Flip to the inside of your cushion and tie the dental floss.  Make sure you pom pom is the way you want it before knotting.    If you happened to go through any seam allowances etc. you may want to pull the dental floss out before tying.

I tied my dental floss four times to be sure and trimmed the floss at an inch.

Repeat for the other corners.

If you like this and don’t have the time.  Please pin it for later.

These cushions took me about four maybe five hours in the evening to make two of them.  They were actually free for me to make, but now I need to bleach some more drop cloth.

I may end up giving this away as a gift, but for now, they are bedroom decor.

Happy Crafting

Leanna