I know what you are thinking, “Three blog posts in one week?!?!” Yep, I am pretty much killin’ it! Seriously, I know I’ve already said it, but I just feel so happy to be creating again, getting my hands into things and using them to be productive, and using my head to think outside the box. Today I am going to share with you a 30 minute project: DIY vintage pennant pillows. Emmy and I stumbled upon some vintage pennants at an estate sale recently and decided to snag a few. We didn’t have a purpose in mind when we bough them, but then a week later a light bulb went off and I thought they could be recreated into pillows. I’ve seen pillows that have a pennant mounted on them, but I wanted to maintain the pennant shape. In one afternoon, I was able to make these pillows. When I shared them on my personal facebook page, my friends seemed to really love them so I thought I’d show you how to make them as well.
You will need the following supplies:
- Pennant (duh!)
- Backing fabric (I used denim I scored at a yard sale)
- Stuffing
- Sewing Machine
- Coordinating thread (I used navy to complement the denim)
- Place your pennant on top of your backing fabric and cut the backing fabric about 1/2″ wider on each side.
- Once you have them cut out, turn them so that the two sides that will show when the pillow is done now face one another, and the inside of the sides is what is showing. You may choose to pin them in place once you are here, but I chose not to.
- Beginning at one corner of the end with the ties, sew one long side together until you reach the point of the pennant. Once you are at the point, make sure the needle is inserted in the fabric, lift your sewing machine foot, and pivot the pennant so that you can now sew the other long side.
- After both of the long sides are sewn, turn it inside out (which will actually be right side out). This part can be a little tricky as the point can be hard to turn all the way inside out. I used the dull end of a wooden skewer to help me push it all the way. DO NOT use anything sharp as you may accidentally make a hole in your fabric. Trust me, I speak from accidents and experience. 😉
- Fill the inside with stuffing! Again, I used the dull end of a wooden skewer to help me shove it all the way into the point. Fill it fairly firmly, and then once you are at the top, shove it down a bit to give yourself room to sew… it will fluff back up once it is closed.
- Luckily the end of the pennant is already nicely finished for you. However, the backing fabric is not. Fold down your backing fabric so the raw edge will be inside the pillow. Line the folded edge with the edge of the pennant. Again, you may choose to pin here, but I did not. Sew the last side closed, and use reverse stitching at each end to seal it.
That’s it! As I mentioned, this was a really quick and easy sewing project, perfect for a beginner. I ended up making quite a few that day.
Over all of my years of thrifting and vintage shopping, I’ve seen several unique pennants, and I think these would make great personal and thoughtful gifts. Happy sewing! Feel free to email me if you have any questions along the way.
