The 12 DIYs of Christmas: Photo Pillow

These pillows are my absolute favorite. They are the perfect gift for everyone in your life. I got one of Alec and I when I graduated high school, I made them for Alec's sister when she had her first born, I sell them on etsy and now I have one to give to my Grandma for Christmas.

If you would like to purchase a custom photo pillow instead of make one, just click here.

If you would like to see how to make one, keep reading!

You'll need:

inkjet fabric sheets (from amazon or Joann's)

fabric 

photo you'd like to feature

sewing machine

polyfil stuffing for the pillow

needle and thread

This photo was taken at Christmas in 2012 of my Grandma, her only son (my father) and our family. 

She would just love this photo in a pillow, so this is the one I chose.

Then, you print your photo on the fabric "paper". Read the instructions for the paper you have because each type is different. Some brands are iron on fabric transfers, which do not stay on well. Especially when you iron them, which is what we will be doing here. Try to get a fabric paper that you print the photo onto and peel off the back. Then, you sew in the photo, instead of iron it on. The colors print a little washed out sometimes, but I may just be a little low on ink. It still looks good in person, but the combination of poor lighting and camera flash does not do the photo much justice.

Trim your photo sheet.

Now, match your fabrics up. My Grandma has a red couch with a black and white chair that she just got. So, I wanted to make her throw pillow match their color scheme.

I used two 2 1/4" thick fabric strips that were 5 1/2" long and two that were 12" long. Just measure what fits the border of your photo and give yourself some extra length to work with.

Pin your edges right side in and sew. Then, press them so that the white fabric seam is pressed over the red fabric. This will keep the red from showing through the white fabric. 

Repeat with the other strips on the top and bottom and trim it up so it is even all around.

This black and white fabric is what I used for the border and the back of the pillow. My strips were 2 1/4" X 9".

Repeat the same process with the border strips. 

Now, measure the size of your pillow front. Mine was 13 2/4" X 9 3/4". Cut a piece of fabric that you will use for the pillow back that is the same size. Then, sew them right sides facing in and leave a 2" hole to turn it right side out through.

When I am finished sewing it, I like to trim my corners so that it turns inside out better.

It will look something like this. Go ahead and poke the corners and seams out all the way with a chop stick, knitting needle or pencil. Just use the opening you left to make sure everything is opened up as far as it can be.

Then, iron it flat. Fold the open edges of the opening in so they match the rest of the pillow. You can see my opening in the bottom right of this photo above.

Stuff it with polyfil using little pieces at a time. If you fill it with smaller pieces it doesn't get that lumpy look that it would have if you just stuffed one huge piece in. Make sure to push the filling all the way to every corner.

It should look like this.

Whenever I close a pillow I use my clear thread. It is amazing. You can barely tell there was a seam at all. If you don't have clear thread just try to match your thread to your fabric as well as you can.

Whip stitch it shut.

You can hardly even see the seam between my fingers!

And there you have it!

If you make your own I'd love to see how it turns out!

Merry Christmas