Skinny Bones Halloween Pillow

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Hello! This is Vanessa over at Lella Boutique. It may not be October yet, but I’m already giddy for Halloween! I’ve been busy putting together a funky little pillow over here and will be sharing the tutorial with you.

Get the full instructions after the jump!

Materials Needed:

• 14 x 28″ pillow form

•  1 yard fabric

•  1 small sheet of white felt

•  1 pkg Therm O Web’s HeatnBond Lite Iron-on Adhesive

•  Skinny Bones Template (PDF file)

From your fabric, cut one 15 x 29″ piece for the pillow-top (shown below). Cut two 15 x 17″ pieces for the envelope-opening.

To each 15 x 17″ piece: take one of the 15″ sides and fold in the fabric 1/4″, wrong sides together, and iron in place.  Fold it in another 1/4″ and iron over the fold again.

Using matching thread, sew the fold in place with 1/4″ seam allowance.

You should be left with one finished-edge on each 15 x 17″ piece for the envelope opening. Set aside for now.

Print out a copy of my Skinny Bones Template (PDF file). Using a lightbox or sunlit window, trace the images onto the paper-side of the HeatnBond Lite Iron-on Adhesive. Be sure to label each finger bone as indicated. (This will help you arrange each of those little pieces later!)

Loosely cut around the images and place the gritty-side of the iron-adhesive against the white felt.  Heat your iron to a medium heat setting with no steam.

Warning!  The felt will melt to your iron if applied directionly! I always lay down a “protective layer” of fabric on top of everything to act as a barrier. Iron over the entire area for several seconds, until the paper is fused to the felt.

Carefully cut out the pieces and arrange them onto the 15 x 29″ pillow top, referring to the illustration below. Center the overall image and remove the paper-backing from each piece. Place the “protective” layer of fabric over everything and iron the pieces in place.  Because of the thickness of the felt, it may take about 10 seconds over each area before the heat gets through to bond the layers together. Once everything seemed bonded, I flipped the pillow-top over and ironed over the back (more direct heat to the iron-adhesive).

The felt pieces should feel secure and are permanently bonded.

Now it’s time to finish the pillow cover! Lay the pillow-top on a table and add one of the 15 x 17″ pieces on top, right sides together, aligning raw edges, the finished-edge crossing over the center as indicated below. Pin in place.

Add the other 15 x 17″ piece to the other side, overlapping at the center. Pin in place.

Stitch around the entire perimeter using 1/2″ seam allowance.

Turn right-side out, using a small dowel to carefully push out the corners. Insert pillow form. Sometimes, I’ll add a little extra stuffing to fill in the corners, if needed.