DIY Dog Silhouette Pillow

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Add a bit of dog friendly fun to your deck with this easy, DIY Dog Silhouette Pillow made from waterproof PUL fabric.

I’ve been searching for new deck cushions for weeks.

There are a whole lot of cushions out there, but apparently, I have weird sized chairs because so far, everything I’ve found is just TOO small or TOO floral or TOO …not my old cushions. I love these old things, even though they’ve faded from their original bright lime colour to more of a lime sherbert. I was over the moon excited when I bought this set. I had a yard! The patio set was metal, not cheap plastic! See how grown up I was?!

Since it seems that I am emotionally attached to cushions (*sigh*), I decided that I was going to jazz them up with some super cute throw pillows instead of replacing them. I’ve been shopping (a lot), but haven’t found anything that I love. Then I remembered that I had a little waterproof PUL fabric leftover after our DIY Drying Mat Project from a few weeks ago. (Did you see that one? Hop on over here to check it out.)

I didn’t have to buy throw pillows – I COULD MAKE THEM!

It was great timing too. My friend AJ from the Art of AJ had just drawn a custom dog silhouette using Koly as her model and I was dying to use it for something awesome. (I’m actually dying to use it for a bunch of somethings awesome. I love silhouettes and I absolutely love that this silhouette is based on MY dog. I chuckle everytime I see the curl of his tail and his saucy stance because it’s SO him.)

Even if you’re not a crack seamstress, you can make this pillow because you don’t need a ton of sewing skills to do it – I promise.

Here’s what you need to make a Dog Silhouette Pillow of your own:

1 piece of solid fabric, 16 x 16

1 piece of patterned fabric, 16 x 16

1 piece of patterned fabric, 8 x 11

Kol’s Note: We used the Babyville Boutique Waterproof PUL Fabric, because we planned to leave our pillow on the deck. If you plan to keep yours indoors, you can use any mid – heavy weight fabric that you like.

Good quality polyester thread

Fabric pencil

Small Paint Brush

Optional for Unenthusiastic Sewers: Fabric glue

Polyfill (or the guts of a thousand dismembered dog toys)

Pet Silhouette printed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper (Get yours by clicking here)

How We Do it:

Carefully cut out your silhouette. Go slow and steady, careful not to chop off any details. (I had to start over, twice. This is literally the hardest part.)

Lay your silhouette on back side the 8 x 11 piece of fabric. Use a fabric pencil to trace the silhouette onto the fabric. Carefully trim out with scissors.

Optional: Paint the back of your silhouette with fabric glue and place it in the centre of the solid fabric square.

Set a heavy book or something similar on top of the silhouette until the glue dries. If you’re a sewer, stitch around the outside of the silhouette. (Seriously you guys, this step is totally optional. I think it gives it a bit more of a “finished” look and the pillow will probably last a bit longer with the stitching, but don’t stress over it.)

Place your fabric squares together, pattern/colours to the inside. Pin fabric in place, so it doesn’t shift while you are sewing. Sew a straight seam across three sides. Sew part of the remaining side shut, leaving a several inch gap open. (This is the spot where you will stuff the pillow.)

Turn the pillow right side out. If you are using Waterproof PUL fabric, toss the cover in the dryer for a few minutes to seal the pin/sewing holes.

Stuff the pillow cover with polyfill or toy guts. (I’m not kidding you guys. I stuffed my pillow with the insides of discarded dog toys. Worked like a charm!)

Use a hand sewing needle to close the last few inches of the pillow. That’s it! As far as sewing projects go, this one is pretty darn easy!

 

What breed would you put on your DIY Dog Silhouette Pillow?

 

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 Check out the rest of our Dog Friendly Decks Series:

Kol’s Note: This post is not sponsored by Babyville Boutique, however I did use materials left over from our sponsored DIY Drying Mat Project to complete it.

The post is not sponsored by the Art of AJ. All art for this project was purchased.
All opinions expressed are 100% my own.