First post, but not the first craft!
The "pillowspirit" is a huggie for good and bad times, and it was made as a birthday present for a friend. I, personally, sometimes still use one for watching things like The Ring and various gore movies (although not anymore for Aliens).
This one's made of caramel fake fur, with a foolproof square-on-square sewing pattern. The pillow inside costed like nothing, but the design is unique and eternal! (Backside says something like "Marit's cuddlespirit")
All I did was cut two squares of fur a bit bigger than the pillow's original size (to allow for enough seam surplus). The trick is: you first need to join the two squares by the zipper, then finish the remaining three sides.
And ta-da: a handy-dandy square pillowcase.
Then it took me a helluva time to track down what "chain stitch" was in English. It struck me to learn that it is "chain stitch.". :/
Chain stitch in such vivid colours looked great on the cream-caramel of the fake fur, but it was tough to get it right. For beginners: chain stitchin on a pre-drawn line is easy and looks really wicked and professional when ready. For intermediates: chain stitch on fake fur is a deadly task, because you have to get the hairs out of the way, and at the same time, keep them in their "natural" direction. (my fake fur HAD a running direction, but not all of them have). This meant that the hairs sometime had to go under the stitches, sometimes they had to stay outside. So I was combing away like crazy all the time. AND had to use brilliantly clear basting (which also brought up the hair problem)
But in the end (by the bottom line with the long word, LOL) I got the hang of it, and it came out quite nicely.
The best thing about it is: after completing the pillowcase itself, adding only two buttons for eyes (strategic placing is a must!), you have already created a completely unique character. You can place the eyes all over the square, the countenance will be different every time.
Well... it's simple, but it was fun. Hope you like it.
PS. I'M NOT COMPLETELY SURE WHETHER THE PICLINKS WORK FROM AROUND THE WORLD, SO PLEASE GIVE ME SOME FEEDBACK. THANKS.
