Make a Simple Pony Pillow for NSM Day!
Katie Craig
• BLOG •
Ok there seems to be a holiday for pretty much everything these days. Did you know today is National Sewing Machine Day? This seems a little silly really, but then again... it is a pretty amazing invention!
I remember asking for one when I was in high school. Little did I know, my father had a great admiration for sewing machines. He said yes, BUT, he wanted to do some research. He didn't feel it was worth getting one unless it was a good one. Mind you, this was long before the internet so he searched the local classifieds for far too long. I just wanted to try sewing! I didn't really care what kind of machine I had. But he did and he seached and searched until one day when he found a PFAFF.
We trudged over to the house of the woman selling it and I waited while she and my dad carefully went through every feature of the machine and all its capabilities (and I mean EVERY feature). She was obviously a Pfaff fan too. I turned over my half of the cost and finally, I had a sewing machine.
To this day I have never used any of the fancy features, and I grumble and moan every time I lug the thing out (it is made entirely of metal, no plastic parts, so it is HEAVY!). But I must admit, I too am now a Pfaff fan. It has lasted so long BECAUSE it is all metal. I think of my dad every time I use it. He always sets standards high, and can make things a bit more complicated than need be, but he is so incredibly impressed by ingenuity and so appreciates good craftsmanship. For this he gets as excited as a little boy. And I love that.
But now that I have kids I honestly find I don't really pull out my sewing machine that much! I like to find projects we can do together or even that they can take on by them selves. One day I'll let them lug that thing out but for now lets all give three cheers to the beloved sewing machine, YES! But maybe celebrate with a nice simple craft perhaps. My friend Deanna and I made a super cute pillow in our new book Horse Play! if you want to give it a try! Here are the steps below (and pick up the book for some more great projects).
"Sew" a Pony Pillow!
(from the book Horse Play!)
• Buy a pillow (or sew one if you can!). I got this one at Target.
• If you bought the Horse Play! book, use the provided stencil (which I did for these photos). If not, draw a really simple pony head on a piece of paper.
• Tape the stencil to the middle of a sheet of felt. If you drew one yourself, cut out your pony shape and tape it to the middle of a sheet of felt.
• Trace around your drawing with a marker (I found a sharpie to be the best). If you're using our Horse Play! stencil, trace around the inside of it.
•Then cut out the pony shape.
• Flip it over so you don't see the marker lines.
• Attach the pony to your pillow by sewing on a yarn mane. Thread a long piece of yarn on a needle and knot the end. Hide the knot behind the felt then sew big loops through the pillow and up through the edge of the pony's neck, as shown below. Continue all along the pony’s neck. Knot and trim the other end of yarn. Then lift the felt not sewn on and glue it to the pillow with fabric glue. Be sure to cover the yarn that is under the felt and all the felt edges too so the horse really sticks.
• Then, if you'd like, snip the yarn loops to create the mane effect or you can leave the loops if you like. Now you have a cute pony pillow!
