Sharing is caring!

Make a simple heat transfer vinyl Christmas Pillow with a Cricut Explore or Silhouette Cameo cutting machine and your iron. Using a simple cut file and your imagination you can decorate your living room with your personal creativity. I was able to make an expensive looking through pillow out of a sale pillow at the local home store, perfect for my girls’ new homes.

Transforming an Inexpensive Sale Pillow

We have always been a crafty family. When I told my daughter I wanted to make a custom pillow for our living room but did not want to spend a lot on a pillow deluxe pillow insert, she had a brilliant idea.  Look at the sale aisle at Home Goods. Sure enough, I found at Home Goods a set of pillows with the perfect high-end inserts.

I looked for one with a white back that had a zipper.  The Zippered back make sewing the pillow very simple. I wanted to be able to change the cover if I found a new design next year.

The pillow was one that would never match our home but was only $7.00. A pillow insert was perfect and had the zipper in the back.  It is easy to take a seam ripper and remove the form of the pillow form the back and you will have half of the pillow done from the start.

Step by Step Heat Transfer Vinyl (Iron-On) Christmas Pillow

This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission which helps keep my blog up and running but it won’t cost you a penny more)! Click here to read my full disclosure policy.  

Supplies Needed:

• Click Here: Free SVG Cut File “I Just Want to Bake Stuff & Watch Christmas Movies All Day”
• Pillow with a zipper on the back
• Seam Ripper
• Thick Cotton Fabric size determined by your pillow
• Matching Thread
• Cricut Cutting Machine
• Heat Transfer Vinyl (iron-on) Glitter or Plain
• Cutting Mat
• Cricut tools (Weeding Tool)
• Regular Cutting Blade
• Iron & Ironing Board
• or Easy Press (This is what I am asking for Christmas this year)
• Sewing Machine

How to DIY a Christmas Pillow with Heat Transfer Vinyl

1. Remove the front from your sale pillow with the seam ripper.
2. Measure the size of the front that you took off as that will be the size to cut from your white cotton fabric.
3. Download the cut file: Click here for the Free SVG Cut file (for personal use only)
4. Upload the pattern to your Cricut Design Space. You can find instruction on how to do this by clicking here.
5. Measure the size of your pillow front and determine the center.
6. Cut out the working from simple copy paper or any scrap paper to determine what size will fit best on your pillow.
7. Adjust the cut file in Cricut Design Space based on your trial cut.
8. Now that you have the image the size you want.
9. Click the make it button in Design Space.
10. Make sure at this point to click the “Mirror” Button so that the words will be right way on your pillow. 
11. Place the Vinyl on the mat with the glossy side down and the matte side up.
12. Place the mat in your machine and follow the instructions to cut.
13. When the cutting is done, you now need to weed out the part of the image that you do not need. This is the Weeding process.  The only color left on the clear back should be the image you want on your pillow.  (Look at my pictures and see where I left a small part in, once ironed on you can not get it off.) Double check when you are using a lot of words.
14. Place your fabric on the ironing board and warm up the fabric.
15. Place the cut pattern that has been weeded vinyl dull side down and shiny side up on your fabric.
16. Place an old white pillowcase or a pressing cloth on top of the cut pattern
17. Make sure all the water is out of your iron and set on dry/high.
18. When the iron is hot Press the hot iron on the cut file a few seconds at a time in a lift and press manner. Long enough to get the material to stick but not too long that the pillowcase starts to burn or scorch. Do this for 3 to 4 minutes.
19. You can lift a corner of the shiny backing to see if the color vinyl is adhering to the fabric.
20. When all done, remove the shiny back and your pattern is on your fabric.
21. When the top is cooled, with right sides together, sew the outer edge about 1/2 inch from the edge with your matching thread.  If you have a zipper in the middle of the back as mine was you can sew all the way around.  If not you need to leave an opening to turn the pillow right side out.
22. When right side out, iron all the wrinkles out and fill with the pillow insert.  Zip or sew the opening and you are all done.

Christmas Pillow for a Gift or for Your Self

Using these step by step instructions you can create many different sizes and decorated pillows to fit your home. These are fun for gifts to give family or friends. Giving a personalized pillow to friends that express their personality is a lot of fun. Using a cutting machine and downloadable patterns your creativity is limitless.

Have a Merry Christmas,

Susan