Extra Long Star Wars Pillow

-Compensation and product for this post provided by Fairfield World, all ideas and opinions are my own-

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Fairfield World recently came out with a new product called a bench pillow, it is a 38" long by 16" pillow form, and they sent me one to try out. I knew right away that I wanted to use it a an accent pillow in our master bedroom. I don't have a bench to put a pillow on but I used to have a long pillow that I would put on our bed and I liked the idea of doing that again. I had a few ideas of how to use it but I really wanted to come up with something that had some significance to us as a couple. I originally thought it would be really cool to do something pieced for the front but I also kind of wanted to add a quote. In the end I decided to keep it simple and just make a plain pillow cover and adding a black iron on quote. I am so glad I decided to go that route because I love the way it turned out and it was really easy to make.

Once I had decided what I was going to use for the quote. You could put anything you want to on it but like I said, I wanted to find something that fit us. My husband is a pretty big geek so I thought it would be fun to use a quote from a movie or book. The first thing that popped into my head was the line from Star Wars between Han Solo and Leia when she says "I love you" and he says "I know". One year I made Jake an embroidery (I think it was for Valentine's Day) of Han and Leia that had the same quote. I thought it would be fitting as decor for our bedroom. I used a heavier weight neutral colored fabric for the pillow cover ad black iron on for the words. I used my Cricut Explore to cut out the words. It is super  easy and here is how you can make one of your own...

How to Make an Extra Long Star Wars I Love You Pillow

Finished size 38" x 16"

You will need:

• 1 1/4 yards medium to heavy weight fabric (I used unbleached cotton drill)
• Bench Pillow 38" x 16" pillow insert
• black iron-on vinyl
• rotary cutter, ruler, mat
• sewing machine with coordinating thread
• Cricut Explore 
• Cricut Design Space file 
• iron
• pressing cloth

Instructions:

First you will cut out and assemble the pillow cover, then add the iron on quote at the end. 

Cut your fabric into 2 strips 17" wide by the length of the fabric (about 45")

Cut one strip down to 39" x 17"

Trim the edges of the other strip to make sure that they are even (mine ended up about 44" long) then cut 12" off of one end. You will be left with 2 pieces, one 17" x 12" and one 17" x approximately 32".

Take the two shorter pieces and make a narrow hem on one short side of each. 

Place the 2 shorter pieces on the longer piece, right sides together with the hemmed edges overlapped in the middle. Sew all the way around the large piece with a 1/2" seam allowance. 

Turn right side out through the flap opening. Press if desired.

Cut out your iron on using my Design Space file or make your own if you want something different or if you are using a different vinyl cutting machine. I made my bigger phrase (I love you...) about 11 1/2" long and the shorter phrase so that the font was the same size. I chose a font that looks kind of handwritten because that was the style I wanted for my pillow. 

Once you have your vinyl cut out and weeded, place it on your pillow in the desired location, cover with pressing cloth and iron according to manufacturers directions. 

Insert pillow form into your pillow cover.

That seems like a lot of steps for a really simple project but it really doesn't take a lot of time. I really loved the simple look of the finished pillow. Also with the cover being removable it can be taken off to be washed or changed out with a different cover if you ever want something different. You could even make them with seasonal phrases on them and change them out throughout the year. You could put anything you want on them.