chronicles of the heins: valentine heart pillow DIY

a few weeks ago i made the cutest little valentine heart pillow that i posted on my instagram account. a few friends asked for more details so i decided to create a DIY post so that everyone can have in on the valentine's day cuteness! this project is easy peasy so even if you're a beginner sewer i encourage you to give it a try.

supplies you need (for a 16" x 16" pillow):

1/2 yard of fabric
fat quarter of fabric for heart
sewing machine, shears/rotary cutter, tape measurer, tailor's chalk, coordinating thread, pins/pin cushion
embroidery floss and needle (if you want to hand stitch the heart. i liked the chunky look of 6 thread embroidery floss, but you could always sew with your machine)
16" x 16" pillow form

first, hand draw a heart onto the wrong side of the fat quarter with tailors chalk. cut out the heart.

cut out a 16" x 16" square for the front of your pillow. if your pillow is very plump you may need to add 1/2" to your measurements. i chose not to and my pillow fit just fine.

cut out two 16" x 11" rectangles for the back of your pillow. iron all of your pieces of fabric on the wrong side of the fabric.

pin the heart onto the front of your pillow. hand stitch or machine stitch heart into place.

take the two rectangles and fold over one of the 16" sides 1/2" and press. fold over another 1/2" and press again. pin this down and repeat on the other rectangle. sew the fold your back pieces and use the edge of the presser foot as a guide. make sure to back-stitch at the beginning and the end of the piece.

place the front of your pillow right side up. place the right side down of one of the back pieces (the right sides should be facing each other) and line it up at the corners and raw edges. pin this piece down and repeat with the other back piece.

sew around the pillow using the presser foot as a guide, removing the pins as you sew. remember to back-stitch at the beginning and end and pivot at each corner. trim the corners to reduce bulk, but take care not to cut too close to the stitch.

turn the pillow cover inside out and place pillow insert inside and you've got yourself a valentine heart envelope pillow. go ahead, toss it on a chair and admire your work!