Nautical Octopus Pillow Tutorial

Inspiration Pillow
from: Paper Source

While at the mall the other day,
I came across this adorable pillow
at Paper Source, a really neat store
that as you can see sells more than 
just pretty paper.

I instantly fell in love with this pillow,
and my husband suggested I make a
replica for my nautical decor.  
I snapped a shot of it, 
and in this tutorial you will see how I
made my very own version of this 
whimsical octopus pillow.

Octopus Pillow Tutorial:

1. I purchased one yard of red fabric and one yard
of the navy blue.  I could have gotten away with 1/2 yard of red,
but I wanted to make sure I had backup fabric in the event I made
a mistake when sketching my octopus.

2. The next step was to choose a template 
for the image.  I went with a simple whimsical one that I found 
looked close enough to the one on the inspiration pillow.
 3. Next, I eye balled it, and sketched the octopus onto the red fabric. I used one of my daughter's 
white color pencils to sketch the design, but you can use whatever medium you choose.
Once the image was sketched onto the fabric, 
4.I then cut it out using seamstress scissors.  Because of the curves and turns in the intricate octopus design, the sharper the shears, 
the better the cut will turn out.

5.  The next step was to adhere the design onto the navy blue fabric.
For this, I opted to use fabric glue rather than attempting to sew the design, 
and run the risk of the fabric gathering during the twist and turns of the machine needle.
The type of fabric glue you use is completely up to you.  
This is the one I chose, and it was quick drying and worked out just fine.

 Once the octopus design was firmly glued to the fabric, 
6. I began the decorating process of creating tentacles.  

I used craft puffy paint that my daughter had in her 
craft bins, and as tedious as the job was, the whimsical
tentacles turned out perfect!  Just get prepared to have
achy fingers from squeezing the puffy paint tube.

7. Now it was time to add on the eyes, and my octopus
pillow was slowly coming to life.

I traced and cut out the eyes using some left over white
gauze fabric I had in my craft bin.

For the inner eye, I used some black felt my daughter had.

I used the same fabric glue shown above to affix the eyes.

8. The pillow is now ready to be sewn closed. You can either stuff 
if, or buy a pillow insert.  I opted for the latter as it's less work.

And this is pretty much it!  
My version of the Paper Source Octopus Pillow
came to life, and ready to join all of the other
nautical pieces I've incorporated into my summer
decor this year!

The finished product:

 Here is my knockoff octopus pillow sitting 
in a basket on the hearth.

I hope you enjoyed this easy tutorial of this most adorable pillow! 

Happy Summer Everyone! 









Sharing at:
 http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/