School Mascot Demon Throw Pillow - First Time Author

Have you ever wanted a soft backrest while you do work? Or maybe you need a nice decorative pillow? Well the Demon Pillow is just that. The Demon Pillow is an improved version of a pillow because you can put an image onto the actual pillow. You don't have to put a picture of a Demon on your pillow, but I chose to since it is my school mascot. I decided to do my school mascot because I am in 7th grade and this was my first time representing my school in sports. The image you put on the Demon Pillow could be a picture of a well known landmark, your family or pet, or even a selfie of you. The nice part about a pillow like the Demon Pillow is that you can make this pillow for a small amount of money, rather than going out and buying a designer pillow that could be over $100. The best part about the Demon Pillow is that you are the designer and can make it whatever you want!

With the Demon Pillow you are also able to make it any size you want and the image any color. My pillow is a 20 x 20 but you could make it anywhere from a 18 x 18 to a 24 x 24 and it would still look and be a normal size. It just depends on what size your couch or bed is. Another reason the Demon Pillow is nice is that you can make it your own. You could add more than one picture or you could do a patterned fabric or even iron on letters of a saying or just something that motivates you.

Another use of the Demon Pillow could be to give it as a gift to a friend or family member. If I made one for a family member or friend I would put a picture of myself and of that family member on the pillow. You could also iron on a saying that the family has or something that person always says. This is a nice gift to give because it shows that you took the time to capture a memory of you and that person in a creative way.

Materials List

• Thread

• 20" x 20" Pillow Stuffing

• 80 inches Fabric Material

• 8 1/2 x11 Transfer Paper

• Wax paper ( just to keep the surface clean)
  

Personally I chose to buy all of my products from local stores because it turned out to be easier for me to get my materials. If you only want to go to one store, you can get all of the materials at Joann Fabrics. After buying these materials I ended up spending around $30 because of sale prices. You would probably want to buy white thread and white fabric so people's attention go to what image or words you put on the pillow and not to the thread color or fabric choice.

When I went to buy my materials it was a pretty quick trip to Joann Fabric and back. This is because I already had thread so I just needed the fabric, pillow stuffing, and transfer paper. Transfer paper is basically a way to iron on images or words to fabric in an easy, DIY way.

Tools

• Printer
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Sewing needle
• Sewing machine (Optional)
• Scissors
• Iron

There were a lot of tools that I needed for this project but many of these items you could probably find somewhere in your house. When using the iron, sewing needle, or sewing machine you may need an adult`s help. The tools I used, which are shown above, are a printer, ruler, pencil, sewing needle, sewing machine (optional), scissors, and an iron. I used these specific tools because I had them all at my house. If you do not have a ruler you could use the side of a book and if a printer is not available you could go to your local library.

The sketch of the Demon Pillow is pretty simple. I decided that I wanted to create a pillow that has an image of some sort on it. I chose to do a 20 x 20 pillow since it is a pretty average size. On my sketch I showed what tools and materials I thought I needed at the time, but I missed a few. I also ended up deciding to put the words “ Westlake Demons” on the pillow below Westlake’s logo. If you are putting an image, saying/words, or both you may want to sketch out your idea of the final product, that way you won't forget anything.

The first step to making the Demon pillow is easy. You want to make sure you decide the pillow’s width and length before buying the fabric so you have the right amount. Next, you want to either sketch out the way you are cutting the pillow or you can just search the internet on how to cut the fabric to the size you chose. Before I started my project, I had to iron the fabric because it was so wrinkled. Now you are ready to cut your fabric. You also may want to use straight pins to secure the fabric while you cut it to the needed size.

When I was cutting my fabric it helped me to have someone hold the fabric down while I was cutting the fabric to its exact size. Also, you may want to draw a line with a ruler or yardstick on where you are cutting because if you are like me, I do not cut very straight. Finally, when you are done cutting your fabric make sure to leave the pins in until you start sewing that side because it helps keep the fabric in place. If you don't have pins you could use paper clips to make sure the fabric does not move while you sew it.

The next thing you want to do is sew the pillow. First, turn the fabric inside out, so the stitches are not showing when the final product is done. You should sew three sides of the pillow case and then stop. This is because if you have a pillow insert like I did, you need space to get the insert in. If you are using stuffing you want to leave at least 5 inches of the fourth side of the fabric unsewn. This 5 inch opening is where you will insert the stuffing for the pillow. If you are using a sewing machine I recommend using a simple stitch pattern if you are just learning. With a sewing needle you can do any type of sewing pattern as long as you think it is easy, durable, and looks nice.

While sewing the pillow make sure to take your time. When I did mine I was making the machine go too fast while sewing and I had to use a seam ripper to undo some of my sewing. I had sewn too much of the fourth side of the pillow because I thought that I could fit the pillow insert into the pillow cover with only a few inches of the fabric unsewn, but I was wrong. I also recommend that if you only have a certain amount of time to create a pillow like mine, use a sewing machine because it only takes a few minutes. Once you stitch the 3 sides, turn your fabric back so that the right side is facing out.

The next step to make the Demon Pillow is to find a design and print it out. When you find a design you want to make sure that it is simple enough that you can cut the transfer paper relatively close to the image. I personally wanted to do an image related to Westlake so I decided to do our team logo the Demon. Once you figure out what image you are doing you need to insert the transfer paper into the printer. First, you need to take out your normal printer paper and put in a few sheets of the transfer paper. Make sure that the lines on the paper are going to be the back of the sheet when the image is printed onto the transfer paper. The side the image is on should be clear. If you are going to transfer words you want to make sure to “mirror” your image so the words are backwards. That way, when you iron on the words they are ironed on are the correct way. Once your image is on the transfer paper, depending on the type of paper, make sure to let it dry for at least 30 minutes. After the transfer paper has dried you can iron the image onto the fabric.

Ironing on the image takes about 10 minutes to do. This is because you must let your iron heat up for about 5 minutes on the cotton setting. Once the iron is heated, you want to place your transfer paper on the fabric. Turn the image over so you see the back, which normally has lines on it. Using the iron, make sure to move in a circular motion on the transfer paper applying heat with force, for about 45 seconds. The amount of time you heat your image may differ depending on the size so I suggest practicing on a scrap piece of fabric like I did. You also want to make sure that you heat the sides of the image or words because if not the image will not fully transfer and the paper will stick out.

After you are done applying heat wait about 5 seconds and then slowly pull off the transfer paper. When pulling off the paper move slowly so that you do not mess up the image that has been transferred to the pillow. After the image has been transferred and the paper is off, wait about 5 minutes to make sure that everything has cooled down and dried before you move the pillow or start sewing. After the image has transferred and cooled you can now put in the stuffing or pillow insert. When doing this be careful and do not shove the stuffing or insert in because it can rip the fabric or stitches you have done.

Finally, you want to sew the remaining side of the pillow up. When doing this make sure that your stitches are close together because this keeps the pillow together and the pillow stuffing or insert in. Also when sewing keep in mind that you probably want to make this side the bottom so if a sewing error is made then it is not as visible. When I was sewing my fabric it was very hard because I have never sewed by hand before so the easiest pattern for me was looping through the fabric and pulling it through.

In the end my project took around 2 to 3 hours because it was my first time using some of the materials like transfer paper. It also took me a while because I had to remember how to use my sewing machine and how to thread it properly. If you forget how to thread a sewing machine I have attached a video and a link to help you do so. Along the way I learned that it would have been less time consuming to just use stuffing because I then ended up sewing a whole side of my pillow by hand since the pillow insert was so big. It took me about 30 minutes or more to sew the remaining side of the pillow because it was hard to do small stitches, but after a few breaks I finally finished sewing. While I was sewing by hand my thread kept knotting, so my mom showed me how to unknot the thread without cutting it and having to start the process again. After I finished my pillow I realized that I had learned many valuable skills like ironing, sewing, and using transfer paper. I also learned that these skills are not as challenging as I thought they would be, they just take practice.

How to Thread a Sewing Machine Video