Bat Throw Pillows

Hey ghouls and creeps! It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and in celebration of Halloween the next two months will be packed with all kinds of creepy but of course colorful decor and baking tutorials. This week I made some bat throw pillows to compliment the wall hanging made for last week’s tutorial. I love a good bat silhouette, so I decided to reuse the bat templates from said project. Throw pillow coverings are an awesome way to decorate your space (especially if you live in a smaller space), because they can be removed from the pillow and folded up and put in storage when not in use!

This project is pretty easy, it would be a great starting project for a novice sewer!

Step 1: Cut your Fabric: Cut the fabric you are using for your pillow fronts to two 19” X 19” squares. These dimensions are for a 18” X18” pillow form, if you are making your throw pillow covering for a different size form, simply measure your pillow and add an inch to both side measurements.

Cut your fabric for the backs of your pillows to four pieces measuring 19” X 16”. To determine the back panel measurements, take the height and add one inch to determine the overall height of the piece. For the width divide your pillow form measurement of the top or bottom of the pillow in half and then add seven inches. This will account for seam allowance and the amount needed for overlap to make your envelope closure.

Cut interfacing to 19” X 6”, or the height of your back pieces X 6”.

Step 2: Painting the Bats: Cut out the bat templates from the PDF below, and use them to trace an outline for reference. Pro tip: I used the stripes on my material as guides to get my bat placement mostly the same on both pillow fronts.

I used both pen and pencil to trace my outlines, you may prefer to use something like a chalk pencil or disappearing ink pen.

After getting my outline traced, I used a larger paintbrush to fill in the larger areas of my bats. I then used a finer brush to define the outlines and fill in smaller details. I did apply two coats of paint to make the paint less transparent, which you may choose to do as well. Using the manufacturer’s instructions allow paint to dry thoroughly.

Step 3: Preparing Pillow Backs: Sew interfacing bands to one of the 19” sides of each back piece. Place non-fusible side of interfacing against the right side of the pillow back piece and sew a half-inch from the edge.

Turn interfacing band to other side of back piece, folding along seam, and press in place. Repeat this step for all four back pieces.

Once complete, take each piece and fold the side finished with the interfacing band over 3” to the inside of the panel. You’ll notice that this fold will line up with the other side of the interfacing band not included in the seam. Use the interfacing side as a guide when stitching along the edge of the fold. Stitch these folds in place on all four panels.

Step 4: Pillow Assembly: Take two pillow backs and place right sides against the right side of one pillow front. Line up corners of the backs and front, it’s okay that there is overlap of the back pieces, this is what we want!

Sew around pillow perimeter, making sure to backstitch over back piece overlap (this will stabilize the area when inserting and removing a pillow form).

To eliminate future fraying of my seams, I did an overlock stitch to secure any exposed raw edges.

Turn your pillows right side out, and you’re finished! Time to insert your pillow forms and start decorating for Halloween! Use these bat templates for Appliques or as guides for painting on other surfaces, like clothing or furniture!

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Ready for your next project? Here are some tutorials on the blog I think you’ll like! Frame Flip tutorial: https://britnijade.com/frame-flip/, Macrame Wall Hanging: https://britnijade.com/macrame-wall-hanging-w-bones/, or the Spider Web Macrame: https://britnijade.com/spider-web-macrame/. Enjoy!