Thursday, December 5, 2013

DIY Shield Pillow

STOP
You know the drill.
Move along if you're related to me by blood or marriage.


My sewing machine is gettin' a serious workout this Christmas.
This is actually the first thing I made, but I'm not in love with the way it turned out, so I wasn't sure if I was gonna share it.
In the end, I still think it's a great idea, so you can learn from my mistakes.

DIY gifts for little boys are HARD.
I feel like I've made my nephew everything there is to make.
So when I found this, I was all over it.

There's the link to the tutorial I used.
It was actually super easy, so I don't know how I managed to screw it up.
I thought my shape started out how I wanted it.
Then, it shrunk and got all squatty.
Hmpf.
Ah well, hopefully the 6-year-old recipient isn't too picky about his shield shapes.

All the instructions are in the link above, but I took a bunch of photos, so figured I'd post 'em. 
Just in case you needed more than one reference.




I can see in the this next photo how I didn't start out quite long enough.
It should have been about 1 1/2 times longer than it was wide.



Might I recommend NOT using chevron print.
That SOB is a $#@% to sew straight.


I've never used fleece as interfacing before, and I'm not exactly sure what it's for, but since I already had some in my stash, I followed directions and put it in.


You sew right sides together, as usual, but the fleece is added to the back of the front piece.
Make sense?
Yeah, it didn't to me either.






But when you turn it right side out, all is right with the world and the fleece is on the inside.

I put my arm straps on the opposite way as the tutorial.
It made more sense to me, and seemed to feel more natural when I had The Kid testin' it out.
Make them smaller than you think you need.
They're too big in these pictures.
I ended up having to go back and hand stitch them to make them smaller.
Grrrr.



I did a zigzag stitch a few times, to make sure it would hold during battles.



And here it is, ready to stuff.
I just used some bagged polyfill (is that what you call it?) that I aleady had in my stash.
You're wondering about my stash now, aren't you?





Throw a Dollar Store sword in the box with it and hopefully he won't care that it's a little wonky looking.  :)


Please see my sidebar for the parties I link up to.


6 comments:

  1. Ha, he is going to love it! Best stay out of the way when he opens it because he will be brandishing immediately.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very, very cute, Mindy. He is gonna love that! xo Diana

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think it is a great idea - it is seriously adorable and I love the monogram. But I see why you think it is wonky. It looked like a sheild before you stuffed it and after, I think it looks a bit like an owl shaped sheild. There is nothing wrong with that though and a six year old is going to have a ton of fun with it - no worries there, friend!



    ReplyDelete
  4. I think this is cute, and I am very impressed you do so much sewing. I can sew a little, and I often get big ideas about things that I'll sew, but then the reality of time and frustration set in, and they usually subside :) And I love Dollar Tree swords!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You are crazy because this is awesome! My son (the dinosaur roarer) would love this! The fact that he could wear this on his arm and hit the walls and everything in the house would make his year! Ha! Brilliant!!!

    ReplyDelete

I love and appreciate all your comments. So don't be shy, just say it!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Pin It button on image hover