Vintage Holiday

Designer: Tina Lewis

• 7⁄8 yard white felt or felted wool (appliqué foundation, appliqués, pillow back)
• 1⁄4 yard red felt or felted wool (border strips, appliqués)
• Freezer paper
• Fabric marker
• Fabric basting glue (optional)
• Embroidery floss: white and red
• 12×16" pillow form

Finished pillow: 12×16"

Yardages and cutting instructions are based on 36"-wide felt or felted wool.

Measurements include 3⁄4" seam allowances. Sew with right sides together unless otherwise stated.

Cut pieces in the following order. Click on "Download this Project" above for pattern templates.

To use freezer paper for cutting felt or felted wool appliqué shapes and letters, complete the following steps. Even though you aren't cutting Pattern A from felt at this time, also make a freezer-paper template of it.

1. Lay freezer paper, shiny side down, over patterns. Use a pencil to trace each pattern the number of times indicated in cutting instructions, leaving 1⁄4" between tracings. Cut out freezer-paper shapes roughly 1⁄8" outside traced lines.

2. Using a hot dry iron, press each freezer-paper shape, shiny side down, onto designated felt or felted wool; let cool. Cut out fabric shapes on drawn lines; peel off freezer paper.

From white felt, cut:

• 1--17-1⁄2×13-1⁄2" rectangle
• 2--11-1⁄2×13-1⁄2" rectangles
• 1 each of patterns C, D, E, F, G, H, and I
• 12 each of patterns J and K
• 7 of Pattern L

From red felt, cut:

• 2--1⁄4×17-1⁄2" border strips
• 2--1⁄4×13-1⁄2" border strips
• 1 each of patterns B, J, M, N, O, P, and Q
• 4 of letter S
• 3 of letter E
• 2 each of letters N and G
• 1 each of letters A, O, R, T, and I

1.    Referring to Diagram 1, lay freezer-paper A template atop white felt 17-1⁄2×13-1⁄2" rectangle, 1-1⁄2" from top and side edges. Trace around template using a fabric marker. Cut along drawn line to make sky opening.

2.    Layer red felt B sky piece under sky opening; white felt should overlap B piece 1⁄4" on all edges (Diagram 2). Baste sky opening edges to sky piece with thread or glue.

3.    Using one strand of white embroidery floss, whipstitch bottom edge of sky opening to red felt B piece (Diagram 2). To whipstitch, bring needle up at A and insert it again at B (Whipstitch Diagram). Pull it up at C, push it down at D, and continue in same manner until entire edge is stitched.

4.    Referring to Diagram 3, position red felt 1⁄4×13-1⁄2" and 1⁄4×17-1⁄2" border strips on Step 3 rectangle, 1-3⁄8" from edges; stitch or glue in place. Using one strand of red embroidery floss, whipstitch long edges of border strips to make appliqué foundation.

5.    Referring to Appliqué Placement Diagram, position white and red felt appliqué shapes and letters on appliqué foundation; stitch or glue pieces in place. Using one strand of matching floss, whipstitch edges of each piece to make pillow top.

1.    Turn one long edge of each white felt 11-1⁄2×13-1⁄2" rectangle under 3⁄4". Stitch along folded edges to make two 10-3⁄4×13-1⁄2" backing rectangles.

2.    Referring to Diagram 4, overlap stitched edges of backing rectangles about 4" to create a 17-1⁄2×13-1⁄2" rectangle. Baste across overlapped edges to make pillow back.

3.    Layer pillow top and pillow back with right sides together. Sew around all edges with a 3⁄4" seam allowance. (The wider seam allowance is intentional; see tip, below.) Turn right side out to make pillow cover. Insert pillow form to complete pillow.

Tip: Turning a Pillow Corner

Designer Tine Lewis says: "I used a 3⁄4" seam allowance around the outside of the pillow on purpose. The stuffing in pillow forms never extends to the corners, so the untrimmed 3⁄4" seams fill out the corners nicely."