I was playing in my sewing room recently, making some fun shaped pillows to update our home in various areas and drew up this big BIG LIPS pillow pattern!
The PDF instructions and Pattern File are posted as a FREE file for you to grab, but I wanted to walk through a few visuals on the blog here to offer extra tips, especially if you are new to sewing with Shannon Fabrics' Cuddle® minky fabrics.
First of all, go visit the Shannon Fabrics' website and scroll to the bottom of the page and check out their sewing Tips and Tricks, then join the I Love Cuddle® Fabric facebook group to be inspired by all the gorgeous projects from the community of Cuddle® fabric superfans!
Now that you know the basics, print out the Big Lips pattern, tape it together, and use it to cut two from Luxe Cuddle®, mirroring the second one by flipping your pattern over. I like to outline the pattern with a silver or black sharpie and use the pattern like a quilt template and simply outline the pattern piece. I transfer the little "L" brackets as marking to remind me that I need to leave those areas open when I'm stitching around the whole shape.
Once you have the pieces cut out, you will need to pin the pieces together, right sides together. When you pin, you want to make sure that you are really controlling the fabric, so pin parallel to the cut edge, and then run a second line of pins next to the first line of pins - this keeps the fabric from wiggling away from you and from the other piece that you are sewing it to.
Use your walking foot to do all your sewing on your LIPS, and sew with 1/2" seam allowances leaving the gaps between the "L" brackets open on the top AND bottom of the lips. We need an opening on both top and bottom because we need to stuff each lip separately. You will see what I mean in a minute. Remove your pins before you run over them with your walking foot. If you find that your material is bunching, even under the walking foot, try loosening up the PRESSURE on your Presser Foot (check your manual for exactly how to do that on your machine).
Once you have stitched around the LIPS completely, except for the two gaps on the top and bottom of the LIPS, go through one of the openings and turn the LIPS right side out.
- Now, consult your paper template and note the curved line across the middle of the pattern. You need to estimate on your lips where this middle line is, and use a piece of chalk or a chaco liner to draw a quick line that is similar to the one on the template on your fabric from one side of the LIPS to the other.
Secure the fabric with a couple of pins, then stitch across the fabric following the curved line you drew with that same straight stitch at 3.0 mm length.
Can you believe that is all the machine sewing that you need to do? This next part is SO fun. Stuff the TOP and the BOTTOM lips on your pillow. You need to stuff with small bits of Polyfil to start, to make sure that you fill in the corners of the pillow well before you plump up the middle of the lips.
Once your lips are as full as you like, you can use your favorite closing stitch to close up the two openings.
To give your fluffy BIG LIPS pillow an extra fancy finish, use a stiletto tool to fluff out any of the long fluff of the minky fabric that might be trapped in the seaming of the front and back. Just run the point of the stiletto over the trapped fibers and watch the fibers fluff out like magic!
Enjoy!!
XOXO, Sheila