DIY Halloween Appliqué Pillow
Halloween is one of my family’s favorite holidays for sewing projects. My kids and I enjoy making home projects to decorate the house with and, each year my boys like to design their costumes, and I sew them. It’s such a fun thing for us to do together. Last October, we moved into our first house, and one of the things we couldn’t wait to do was decorate the exterior and interior of the home with Halloween décor. We sew something new every year to add to our collection. Believe it or not, I don’t have a lot of pillows, so I thought it would be fun for each of us to make one. We decided to liven up the pillow with appliqué using the Brother Simplicity SB1000T Sewing Machine.
Appliqués are a great way to add dimension and customize plain fabric. You can do any shape or design you’d like. Get the details below on how to sew your own Halloween Appliqué Pillow.
Supplies:
- Brother Simplicity SB1000T Sewing Machine
- ¾ yard of cotton fabric or medium weight fabric (see measurements below)
- Felt fabric or any fabric that doesn’t fray easily, enough for your appliqué or pre-cut appliqué.
- Template for appliqué: Click here to download: skullapplique.pdf
- Temporary Spray Adhesive (embroidery)
- General sewing supplies

- Cut your fabric out with the template above. I’m doing a standard throw pillow size, but you can adjust the measurements to fit the pillow you plan to cover. Just measure the pillow and add a 1” border for seam allowance. I’m also doing an envelope back so the back measures slight larger in length (measurement/2 + 4”).

- Cut out your template for your appliqué. I attached the one I drew out here (insert pdf file). You can find several ones online to print or trace out as well. You can use some pre-cut felt shapes from the craft store. I’m using a skull pattern and sparkly felt fabric.

- Find the center on the front piece and mark or press with the iron. Place the appliqué in the center. I like to use a temporary spray adhesive typically used for embroidery on the back of the appliqué. This helps keep it from shifting and won’t gum up the needle when sewing. I then pin on the outside.
Tip: Add some additional support to your front piece by using a fusible interfacing on the back.


- Sew the appliqué into place about 1/8 from the edge using a regular straight stitch. When sewing the curves, lift your presser foot up and pivot gradually each time you turn.


- I like to add more detail around the edges of the appliqué by sewing a satin stitch with a metallic thread.

- Place your N foot on for this. Choose a zigzag stitch with a length of .2 and a width of 3.5. Sew around the perimeter of the appliqué. I also did the eyes and nose openings. For the mouth I just did a straight stitch, but you could do the satin stitch as well.



- Now that the front of the pillow is done we can sew the back. For each back-piece fold over one edge ½” and press. Sew the hem into place.

- Place front and one of the back pieces right side together, pin, and sew.

- Place the other back piece on the bottom half right sides together and sew. It should overlap the other back piece by 3-4” inches. Clip corners if necessary, pull right side out, press and place a pillow in.


