Celebrate summer with a pair of themed pillows! Bev of Flamingo Toes also provided two versions of the same design - one for machine embroidery and one for hand embroidery.

Download the project instructions here.

Download the Machine Embroidery Design here.

Download the Hand Embroidery Design here: Part 1 & Part 2

Materials:

• White background
• Embroidery Stabilizer
• 2 fabric strips
• 10 squares of fabric
• 2 pieces of fabric (for pillow back)
• lightweight batting
• pillow form
• Embroidery thread (for machine)
• embroidery floss (for hand embroidery)
• Basic Sewing Suplies

Tools:

• Sewing & Embroidery Machine
• Embroidery Hoop

Steps:

1. Complete the embroidery portion of the pillow first.

   1. If creating the machine embroidery version, load the pattern in the machine.

      

   2. Add embroidery stabilizer behind white back-ground fabric and embroider design on the fabric according to the pattern.

   3. If creating the hand embroidery version, embroider the pattern using the stitches listed on the hand embroidery pattern.

      

      

2. Keeping the embroidery in the center of the background section, trim the fabric to 20" x 8-1/2".

   

3. Use a 1/4" seam allowance on the front of the pillow cover. Sew the two 2-1/4" x 20" strips on either side of the background fabric.

   

4. Piece together the top and bottom patchwork rows by sewing five squares together in each row. Press the seams to one side.

   

5. Sew a patchwork row to the top and bottom of the pillow cover.

6. Place the piece of batting behind the pillow front. Quilt the pillow front as desired. For the machine-embroidered pillow I did straight-line quilting.

   1. For the hand embroidered version do a 1/4" hand quilting around the seams. For either version, trim the batting so it is even with the pillow cover and measures 20" square.

7. To create the envelope back, hem the bottom edge of one of the fabric pieces by turning up the fabric towards the wrong size 1/4" twice, then sewing the hem in place.

   1. Repeat for the top edge of the other back piece.

8. Overlap the two backing pieces so they create a 20" square.

   1. The piece hemmed on the bottom should be on the top and the piece hemmed on the bottom should be on the bottom.

9. Place the pillow cover right sides together with the pillow back, lining up the edges and corners. Sew around all four sides with a 1/2" seam allowance.

10. Clip the corners and turn right side out. If needed, use a tool to make the corners nice and pointy. Press the pillow cover and back.

11. Place the pillow form in the cover. The back should form an envelope, so the top layer overlaps the bottom layer.

    1. This makes it easy to change out the cover for washing or different seasons.