Tooth Fairy Pillow Pattern

People sometimes say that the youngest child is the one to get all the hand me downs and to have the baby book without any entries. With the big age gap between my children, that isn't really the case for our family. I sew a lot more than I did when my older girls were younger, and I am now a stay at home mom with all the kids in school (the oldest is in college). This means that everyone has more handmade by mom, and that we finally have a tooth fairy pillow in the house rather than a little plastic Barbie present box. My 12 year old has one tooth left to lose, so she will get to use it one time. My six year old has four loose teeth, so she will likely get to use it very soon.

I sent a friend of mine the tooth template I made as well as my construction notes, but I thought I would share them here for anyone else interested in making one. This isn't a full tutorial, so basic sewing and embroidery skills are necessary to make it. My daughter, E, insisted that she needed a zipper pocket on her pillow (although I guess this is more of a pouch since I didn't stuff it...). I liked the idea of a front pocket, so we ended up with both - a front slip pocket and a back zip pocket.

Materials:

Exterior: 
(2) 5" squares of fabric
(2) 5" fusible interfacing or fusible fleece

Front Pocket:
(2) 3" x 3.5" rectangles of fabric
(1) 3" x 3.5" rectangle of fusible fleece (I used Pellon Shape Flex SF 101)
Fuse one pocket panel

Tooth applique: Approximately 2.5" square of white felt
DOWNLOAD PATTERN PIECE HERE - print at 100%
Embroidery floss: I used two strands of dark brown to embroider face details

Lace Trim (optional): approximately 23"

Ribbon hanger: 11" of 3/8" wide grosgrain (adjust length and type of ribbon as desired)

Back Zip Pocket (optional):
(2) 2.75" tall x 3.5" wide pocket lining pieces
(1) 2.75" x 3.5" fusible interfacing
(1) 2" x " 3.5" fusible interfacing
4" zipper (trim down zipper stop end to make zipper tape 3.5" wide total)
Interface the zipper lining side that will be attached to exterior and have zipper. Add the second strip of 2" x 3.5" of interfacing to the top of the same lining piece

Instructions:

Tooth:

Use tooth pattern piece to cut wool felt.

Embroider face detail onto wool felt

Front Pocket:

Center tooth on interfaced pocket piece

Applique in place

Add optional trim at the top, folding down the trim to the inside

Place both pocket pieces right sides together and sew with 1/4" seam allowance, leaving a space at the bottom to turn

Trim pocket corners

Turn right side out and press well

Center on front 5" exterior piece and topstitch in place

Optional Back Zip Pocket:

I am not including instructions for how to make an inset zipper as there are many tutorials out there. U-Handbag inset zipper tutorial has a good tutorial.

On the double interfaced piece, 1/2" from the top, draw the zipper placement box making sure to center on the pocket lining fabric

Attach the pocket lining fabric to the 5" back exterior panel 1/2" from the top edge, matching center of lining to center to exterior.
Follow tutorial instructions to make lining.

Add zipper.

Ribbon Hanger:

Baste ribbon hanger in place on front exterior panel. I lined my ribbon up with the outside front pocket edges.
Make sure to baste match the raw ends of the ribbon to the raw edge of the exterior piece, just as you would a bag handle.

Optional Lace Trim:
I don't actually measure the lace before attaching, I just take a longer piece and work my way around and then trim the excess. Turn lace edge under twice on the end to enclose raw edge. Pin and baste lace trim in place around front exterior panel, with the lace facing in, matching the raw edge of the exterior fabric to the gathered (non lacy) side of the lace trim.

The Pillow:
With right sides together, stitch the two exterior panels together, leaving an opening at the bottom to turn. Use the basting stitch on the seam as a guide for seam allowance. The lace I used needed a 3/8" seam allowance to cover the edge all the way. Go slowly and make sure not to catch the ruffled side of the lace in the seam allowance.
Trim corners.
Turn and press well.
Stuff if desired.
Close pillow opening with ladder stitch.

I meant to take a nice photo of E holding the little pillow for scale, but apparently the only time I think of such things is after I drop her off at school and her college age sister, R, is about to run out the door for class. So this morning, I grabbed R on her way out and asked her to pose. Rather than highlighting the sweetness of my little one, this pic managed to highlight the different ages and stages from oldest to youngest in our family. :)