- Wool felt: 1/2 yard of 35-inch-wide teal blue, 12-x-18-inch piece of red, 12-x-18-inch piece of antique white, and scraps of rose, light blue, light peach, and gold (We used WoolFelt from National Nonwovens.)
- 1/2 yard of fusible web such as WonderUnder
- Ecru quilting thread
- Embroidery needle
- Embroidery floss: red, dark brown, and blue
- Four small black seed beads (for eyes)
- 14-x-14-inch pillow form or polyester fiberfill
- Preshrink the wool felt before cutting out the pattern pieces. To preshrink the felt, wet the felt under warm water until it's completely soaked; run it on the spin cycle in your washing machine to remove excess water. Because the felt colors may bleed, do not wash or dry different-color pieces together. Tumble-dry the felt on medium-high. Results may vary. As much as 4 inches may be lost in shrinkage. If the finished pillow becomes soiled, dry-cleaning is recommended.
- Cut two 14-x-14-inch squares from teal for the pillow front and back.
- Lay the fusible web, paper side up, over the pattern in the Pattern Pack and trace the pieces onto the paper with a pencil. Cut the pieces slightly outside the traced lines.
- Place the paper pieces onto the felt before fusing to make maximum use of the felt. Fuse the pieces to the felt with an iron for 5 to 10 seconds.
- Cut out the pieces along the traced lines.
- Remove the paper backing as you assemble the design on the pillow front.
- Fuse the pieces to the pillow front.
Blind-stitch-applique the edges of all felt appliques using ecru quilting thread. When working blind stitches, pull the thread tight so it "disappears" into the felt; use small stitches, working just into the edges of the appliques. Separate the six-strand embroidery floss and use three strands for all embroidery. Backstitch Santa's nose with dark brown floss and the bird's tail with blue. Sew black-bead eyes in place.Assemble the Pillow
With wrong sides together, pin the pillow front to the pillow back. Blanket-stitch around three sides using three strands of red embroidery floss. Insert the pillow form and then pin and blanket-stitch the opening closed.