DIY Fall Pillow

Learn how to make a DIY fall pillow with chenille patches. This beginner sewing project makes the cutest autumn decoration and can be no-sew!

I love the trend of chenille pillows and towels with shapes and prints. I especially love the holiday ones. Instead of buying expensive fabric like that (if I could even find it), I realized that I could buy chenille patches and sew it onto fabric.

It would look just like a fall or Halloween chenille pillow with just a little ironing and sewing. You can even buy iron on chenille patches so that you don’t even have to sew! Let’s make a cute DIY fall pillow!

What patches to use?

You can use any sew on or iron on embroidered patches to make DIY fall towels. You can also use chenille patches (patches with a fuzzy towel like texture) that are very popular right now. A pillow and the patches you put on will probably not get washed a lot so you don’t have to worry about washability.

What pillow cover should I use?

You can make your own pillow cover like an envelope pillow cover or an invisible zipper pillow cover. Or I found a lot of great pillow covers on Amazon:

Cotton pillow covers* – easiest to sew
Chenille pillow covers* – harder to sew but the cover and chenille patches will look like the same fabric
Throw pillow cover with fringe* – easy to sew with a fun added detail

Iron on or sew on?

Iron on embroidered patches are much easier to apply since you can just iron them on. Sometimes the glue bond is really strong and the patch never falls off, but sometimes the glue bond isn’t great and the patch eventually falls off. You can add some stitching to the iron on patch, but sometimes the patch and glue are too thick to sew through.

Sew on embroidered patches are harder to apply since you are sewing it on, but they are very secure and don’t ever fall off. These take much longer to apply.

Tips for sewing on a patch

Use a washable glue stick to glue the patch to the pillow cover, or use pins to pin the patch in place.
The patch will be stiff which will make it easier to sew onto a pillow cover.
Don’t pick a pillow cover that is too thick or it will be really hard to sew.

Where to buy patches?

I found a lot of great patches on Amazon:

Love to sew? Try one of these sewing projects:

Supplies

Ghost and pumpkin patches*
Cotton pillow covers*
Iron and ironing board
Sewing tools
Sewing machine

Move your patches around to decide on the placement of all your patches.

Place your pillow cover on an ironing board. Use the patch instructions to iron each patch onto the pillow cover. Make sure to use a press cloth or teflon sheet to protect the patches from the iron.

Flip the pillow cover over and iron all the patches from the back to get a really good glue fuse.

Check each patch to see if they are fused to the fabric.

With thread that matches the color of the patch, sew around each patch to secure it to the pillow cover.

I wasn’t super careful sewing around each patch, as you can see with my wonky stitch lines below, but the chenille is fluffy and hides all my stitch lines.

Trim your threads.

Stuff a pillow form into the pillow cover. You finished!

If you make something using this sewing project, I’d love to see! Please share it on social media with the hashtag #heatherhandmade and tag me!