Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Candy Cane Pillow Tutorial

Several of you saw these candy cane pillows on top of my dryer (Make Your Home A Haven challenge) and asked how to make them - so this is especially for you and anyone else who may be so inclined to make these cute pillows!

My friend Amy and I saw these at a neat shop one day and decided we could figure out how to make them. I love how we each put our own style into the project - look what she did with hers!

Sketch a candy cane template on a sheet of paper (this was done on large drawing paper) and cut out. Use as a pattern to cut out your candy cane pillow. I used natural canvas and cut through both layers at once with pinking shears. You will end up with this:

Using the edge of your presser foot as a guide, stitch around the edge of the candy cane - leaving the flat bottom edge open for stuffing.

Start with the red paint. Paint wide stripes as desired:

Now, using a sponge or makeup sponge - dab on some tan paint. Think messy here, the messier the better in the end. Trust me, I tried to be neat and it just wasn't working for me. Just sort of smudge some paint all around the outside edge:

Using an ivory paint fairly close to the color of the canvas - sort of blend everything together. Swipe over the white space with your brush, blend into the tan, run a little bit of it over the red, whatever you like. Again, do not go for perfection here.

If you are like me, at this point you are getting nervous that this is not going to turn out! But, once you add the stuffing - oh!

Stuff as desired and sew a straight seam across the open end. Use a wooden spoon to help you get the stuffing all the way around. Paint a little glue on the edges of the red stripes and sprinkle with glitter!

You can make these in varying sizes - the ornament size is very hard to stuff. I speak from experience! But, they are so cute in many sizes - have fun creating! You will notice that none of my three are the same - I started with the one in the middle (top photo) and the stripes were too thin and too perfect, then I got a little braver and did messier in the second one (far right) and finally my favorite one was the one I did last (shown above in tutorial). If you wanted to practice your stripes on a scrap - that would be a great way to get the feel of it and having your candy canes turn out the way you like them!

Happy crafting!

11 comments:

Katy said...

Fantastic! They are sooo awesome Monica! :) Thank you for sharing the tutorial with us! :)

Patty Williams said...

These are gorgeous ! I love them! And you are so right about the small ones, they are hard to stuff, I too found out the hard way. :) I've not made any big ones yet, but this may be the push I need to do them!

You could also tea/coffee stain them, I use flavored coffee to dye them and that gives them a slight hint of fragrance. I also use some essential oils to make them smell oh, so yummy!

You have so many talents, Monica, thank you for sharing them with us!

eworpell said...

Thank you so much for showing how you made these. I've been having so much fun making gifts this year instead of buying~I used one of your ideas for silhouettes of my children from your blog archives! (I posted a pic on my blog if you'd like to see!) I LOVED that idea-again-thank you so much! :)

Ruth said...

Monica,
I love these candy canes. I had seen them in a magazine and knew I wanted to try them right away.
Ruth

Elise said...

Those are adorable-thanks for the tutorial!! I saw some similar in either my Country Home or Country Living and thought they were cute. I tried to make ornament size one out of ticking, they were not so great.
Elise

Debra said...

How adorable! And easy! Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Ah, to be able to sew. When I was a teenager my sister-in-law (yes, my brother has been married 34 years!) tried to teach me, but I had no patience for it. I loved to crochet and cross-stitch, though.

Judy said...

LOVE Them!! Quick question....what kind of paint did you use on these?

Monica Wilkinson said...

Hi Judy -

Just the cheap 2/$1 craft paints!

Have fun!
Monica

Crystal @ The Thrifty Mama said...

thank you sooooo much for sharing this. I saw you had these and were sold out. I was hoping to find out how to make some and here it is! what a blessing. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

hi this is a great thing to make. i had so much fun making it.
so everybody it's fantastic to make have a try see if you can make it have fun!!!