all i want for christmas is a present filled with fluff ...

What woman's' heart doesn’t skip a beat at the sight of that Tiffany blue box wrapped with a simple white ribbon?


Though she may be a tad disappointed to discover nothing more than fluff inside of this robin's egg blue box …





Present pillows were inspired more than a decade ago by a Pottery Barn catalog.  The present pillows weren’t for sale, just a prop.  Which frustrated me to no end.  So I decided to make some of my own.



Back then, jewel tones were all the rage … and that’s what I made.  Jewel-toned present pillows that were literally loved to death by my kids and put out to pasture a long time ago …


Then I happened upon that picture above -- the baby holding those pillows is now in high school -- and decided it was high time to bring back the present pillow.


This time I jumped on my new passion of using drop cloth as fabric (a 4’ x 15’ drop cloth that I found at Menards runs about $15.00).  The first step: wash the drop cloth with detergent and fabric softener. And then dry with a dryer sheet. I actually ran mine through the washing machine twice. It’s amazing how much it softens it up.


I made two present pillows that are 8” x 6” in size. That meant I cut 4 pieces of fabric (tops and bottoms) 7” x 7”; and cut 8 pieces of fabric 9” x 7” for the sides.


I cut -- well, more like tore – the top and bottom pieces first. If you make a small cut in the drop cloth like so …



You can then tear it and end up with a perfectly straight line …



When all the cuts (tears) were made, I pinned the pillow “sides” together …

 
…and stitched them up…


In an ideal world, I would add a zig zag stitch on the edges because the drop cloth frays so easily … but since these are seasonal pillows, I skipped that step and instead pressed open the seams …


I pinned the top on next, matching up the corners …


When sewing the tops and bottoms to the sides, when you get to a corner you need to lower the needle into the exact corner and lift the footer …


Pivot the fabric and spread the boxing around the corner ... lower the footer and continue sewing. Repeat at each corner.


Once done, I clipped the corners, pressed open the seams and turned right side out and pressed again …




Then I pinned the bottom on the same way, only this time when I sewed I left an opening for the stuffing …


… and speaking of the stuffing, mine is from a 'deconstructed' $9.99 body pillow from Target. And no, really, I didn’t get that money-saving tip from a JoAnn’s employee …


You can slip stitch the opening closed … or do what I did and just sew it shut using the machine …

 

All that’s left to do is dress them up with some twine and rosettes ….



… or if you prefer, ribbons and bows …



Here’s hoping you find the present pillow of your dreams under the tree this year …


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