how to make a state pillow

So, my mom got pretty close when she guessed that I made Megan a pillow of her home state, but it wasn't Ohio.  It was...


Michigan!  First, I found a picture online and pasted it into Microsoft Paint.  Then, (and this is going to sound really dorky), I used a tape measure to calculate the proportions of the state in the picture and translate them to the felt.  For example, I measured how far up the state that notch in the right side was in the picture, then put it over the picture length of the entire state.  Then, I put "x" over the length of my felt and did some cross multiplying to see where on the felt that notch should fall.  Yeah, ok, I'm a big dork.  But I'm impatient, and I get mad if I have to draw things more than once.

I usually draw the state backwards on the felt so that my pencil/pen marks will be on the back instead of the front.  The "flip horizontal" command in Paint makes that easier.  Once I cut out the state, I put it on folded white felt and cut around it, leaving me with two white felt pieces that border the state about an inch and a half on every side.

Next, I use fabric glue to attach the state to one piece of white felt.  Even though I always sew the state on later, states like Michigan have little fingers and peninsulas here and there that are difficult to sew down, so glue works better.

Then, I sew the state down to one piece of white felt.  I use a sewing machine now, but I have hand sewn it before.  It doesn't take too long to do it that way, so if you don't have a sewing machine, no biggie!

After that, I put the front of each white felt piece together and sew almost all the way around the edges.  I leave about a four inch opening so I can stuff the batting in after turning the pillow right side out.

Finally, I stuff the batting, close up the hole by hand sewing, cut out a felt heart, and glue it on wherever my friend happens to be from.

That's it!  I promise the hardest part is getting the state to look right... after that, it's smooth sailing.  Michigan is weird because it has a little growth up there in the northwest, but that's cool.  Extra pillow.

I know some of you have requested pillows of your own, so don't worry!  They're coming!

Yay sewing!