Greetings, craft fans! Jennifer, here, with a cute solution for any beleaguered tooth fairies out there.
Losing baby teeth is a rite of passage all kids go through and, to lessen the pain and/or trauma of change, the tooth fairy comes and leaves a gift in place of the tooth. Being a tooth fairy is tough work, though: light sleepers, pillows that hide the teeth, and the need for exact change. Today's project is a tooth fairy pillow that'll make the transaction much smoother (and cuter); the change thing is on you.
To make these pillows I used:
- Fabric–one pattern and two coordinating solids is a good start
- Ribbon
- Quilt Batting
- Dies and a die cutting machine
- Helmar Fray Stoppa
- Helmar 101 Quilt Basting Spray
- Needle and thread
- (not pictured) buttons, fabric markers, scissors
Trim the fabric to fit the width of the die cutting machine and cut 2 pieces for the body of the pillow from the patterned fabric and the embellishments from the solids. I used a mix of linen, quilting cottons, and lightweight fleece, all of which cut beautifully in my Sizzix Big Shot Plus with the Sizzix Big Cuts, Thinlets, and Spellbinder dies.
Treat the edges of the cut pieces–all of which will be exposed–with Helmar Fray Stoppa to prevent fraying and add a little stability to the edges. All to dry. I had no problem with the Helmar Fray Stoppa leaving any lasting color change on my fabrics once it was dry, but it's always a good idea to test on a scrap piece so you'll know.
Tie small bows with the ribbon and treat the cut ends with Helmar Fray Stoppa, as well.
A pocket is key to the function of the tooth fairy pillow, and labeling it never hurts. Use fabric markers (or embroidery) to label the pocket segment. In my case, I had this cute mason jar die set (Country Charm by Spellbinders) that included a label that was perfect for a pocket.
Stitch the pocket to the background with a back stitch along three sides.
Spray the backs of the base pieces and one side of each of the batting layers with Helmar 101 Quilt Basting Spray. This is a temporary, repositionable adhesive that holds everything in place while you stitch. I use a small box to spray in to avoid over-spray on my work surface. I'm using the largest of the Square Swatches Spellbinder dies that's right around 4" wide, so my batting is cut into 3" squares and I'm using three of them per pillow. Also spray the backs of any decorations that will be completely attached to the pillow (in my case, that was the mason jars, and the heart for the tag).
Stack the layers for each pillow (pattern-side-down base fabric, batting, pattern-side-up base fabric, decorations) and match edges and corners.
Sew the layers together, back-stitching around any decorations on top and around the perimeter of the pillow. Attach any decorations (like the flower or tag show in my examples.
And there you go! With the tooth safe in the pocket of the pillow, the tooth fairy can easily find it and swap it out for the gift!
Wishing you creative days,
