Heart Chenille Valentine Pillow

Why wait till February 14th, we can make every day as romantic as Valentine’s Day. I designed and sewed a heart Chenille Valentine Pillow for my living room and couch. I can hug the pillow with love, just like hugging my loved one everyday!!!

Sipping a cup of coffee with some sweet heart sugar cubes or dropping a cafe mocha truffle into a glass of hot milk and enjoy my day off.

This heart chenille valentine pillow is soft and fluffy, nice to touch and warm to hug…. the photo is self-explanatory.

Sew one today and let the 365/year be valentine’s day every day! Remember, love yourself like loving everyone in your life.

“February is always full of pink and red colors, surrounded by roses and chocolates, fine dining with champagnes and candlelight, with hearts flying all around… love is in the air. The world belongs to 2 of us, no kids to interrupt, no errand to run, just only 2 of us, so peaceful and romantic….. mmmm…how wonderful!!!”

Wait! Who is tapping my shoulder and shaking me? No, wait……. poof… all those sweet dreams just gone. Sigh… I am back to my real world.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Cheers!!!!

Heart Chenille Valentine Pillow

Finished Dimension: 18″ (W) x 18″ (H)
Heart Pattern: Download pattern here.

Materials:
1. Flannel [20″ x 20″] – pink = 2 pcs., white = 2 pcs.
2. Flannel [9″ x 9″] – red = 2 pcs.
3. Muslin or cotton [20″ x 20″] – white = 1 pc.
4. Fabric [10 1/2″ x 10 1/2″] – printed = 2 pcs.
5. Zipper [15″] – 1
6. Plain white paper [US letter size] – 1
7. 18″ square pillow form

Tools:
1. Sewing machine
2. Overlock machine [optional]
3. Chenille cutter or slash cutter [come with 1/4″ guide for curved slash cutting]
4. Sewing needle and pins
5. Erasable fabric marker
6. Printer
7. Sharp point scissors

Seam Allowance: 1/2″

Get all materials ready and cut into the correct shape and sizes.
Fold the paper heart into quarters to mark both vertical and horizontal center lines.

Mark centerlines on the muslin base by folding into quarters then press to make the crease lines.

Place the heart on the muslin base, align the center lines, pin and trace with a fabric marker.
Remove paper heart.
Draw 45° lines on the muslin 1/4″ apart, invert the direction on the heart portion. [scroll down to view photos below for the visible lines.]

Place a red flannel below the muslin base, make sure it covers the heart.
Place a pink flannel below the two, align the corners.
Pin it to secure the layers.
Sew along the heart line.

Turn to the flannel side and trim off the pink flannel from the center part of the heart. Cut close to the stitching line.

Trim off the outer portion of the heart from the red flannel underneath the pink flannel. Cut close to the stitching line.

Place a layer of white flannel on top of the trimmed pink/red heart, followed by a red flannel, then, a pink flannel.
Repeat the sewing on the heart, trimming the pink and red flannel around the heart line.

Place your final layer of white on them, sew the heart.

Turn to the base and sew the diagonal lines. Skip those lines which are too near to the boundary of the heart, i.e which has less than 1/4″.
This may take you a while to finish.

Turn the work to the flannel side, cut an opening with a pair of sharp point scissors.
Cut only the flannels and not the muslin base.
You may use slasher or chenille cutter to slash the flannel.
If you are using the slash cutter that comes with a long straight guide like what I am using, you will need to use scissors to cut those unreachable areas.

Upon finishing the heart portion, continue slashing the rest of the lines outside the heart.

Finished chenille making of a heart shape.

Turn to the wrong side (muslin base side), mark 18″ square seam lines with 1/2″ seam allowance [total is 19″ at each side].
Trim the access.

Prepare the materials of the zipper side of the pillow.
I layered a muslin to the not-so-thick back fabric to make it thicker, sew them together within the seam allowance.
Sew the zipper side of the pillow our preferred way or by following the below tutorial.

Place the back fabric together with right side facing each other.
Make a stitch about 1″ from the top and 2 1/2″ from the side edge. Repeat to the other side.
Use the longest stitch length, sew the line between the 2 1/2″ you have just made. This is a temporary zipper closure to make zipper installation easier and neater.

Open up and press. Fold the raw edges into the seam and press.

Place the zipper on top, with right side facing down. Align the zipper teeth along with the temporary closure you have made with the long stitch length. Pin.

Turn to the right side, sew around about 1/4″ from the closure line.
Remove the stitches from the temporary closure and the zipper is ready to function.

Place the zipper piece and chenille heart piece together with right side facing each other.
Sew along the seam line for the 4 edges.
Overlock stitch the raw edges to neaten the seam allowance.

Turn to the right side, the photo shown is the chenille hear valentine pillow cover before washing.
Throw the pillowcase into your washing machine and wash with cold water, rinse, and dry. The chenille effect with pop up immediately upon the wash. Or, you can brush the pillow with a soft brush to create the chenille effect instead of washing it.
Insert the pillow form into the cover and your Valentine pillow is ready to serve its purpose for the most romantic day/night of the year.