DIY College Sports Team Pillow Wreath
Create a unique college sports team pillow wreath for fans, students, family members or alumni! This customizable wreath also makes a fun graduation gift for high school students headed to college in the fall!
Hello Crafty Friends! Graduation season is upon us and today I’m excited to share this DIY college sports team pillow wreath. Show your school pride with this easily customizable wreath. It makes a fun home decor item for parents or family with a student at college. This wreath is also a fun graduation gift idea for both high school graduates headed to college in the fall or college graduates wanting to remember their alma mater.
I love pillow wreaths and have been making them ever since my mom taught me when I was younger. Pillow wreaths are simple to make and a great beginner sewing project. They give a new sewer practice sewing straight lines with a sewing machine and hand sewing practice closing each pillow up.
Pillow wreaths are also endlessly customizable and can be made for any holiday, occasion, or sports team. Make them with leftover fabric from your stash or create a wreath with fat quarters or charm packs.
How to Make a College Sports Team Wreath
Choosing the Fabric
Each pillow wreath is made with 5-6 different fabrics that go well together. For sports team wreaths, I try to use two licensed fabrics and then find coordinating fabrics in polka dots, solids, stripes or plaids for the other three fabrics. You only need 1/4 yard of each fabric but I recommend getting a little bit more for the licensed fabrics so you can choose where to cut the pillows out. I like cutting these pillows so the name of the school or mascot’s face is visible.
Finding college sport team fabrics can be a little tricky but there are many places to find them! It will be easiest if the college you’re searching for is in your home state and has a popular sports team in football or basketball. My local Joann Fabrics had a nice selection of fabric for this University of Wisconsin pillow wreath since it is our state’s most popular college sports team.
Here are a few options on where to find college fabric:
- Joann Fabrics – In store for popular local collages and a larger selection online for colleges out of state.
- Amazon – Amazon has a decent collection of fabric online but it is often sold by the yard and can be quite pricey. I searched University of Michigan and found a bunch of fun fabric options.
- Etsy – Etsy is a great option because many sellers offer different cut options like a fat quarter or 1/2 yard. Some even sell multiple fabric prints for the same team or coordinating solid fabric which is helpful!
What if I can’t find licensed fabric for my college?
If the University is smaller or does not have a popular sports team it can be difficult to find licensed fabric to use for the wreath. Here are some ideas on what you can do instead!
- Make the wreath in just the school’s colors. If the college’s colors are black and yellow, choose fabrics in these colors. Remember to mix it up and choose a combination of solid-colored fabrics as well as patterned fabrics like one that is striped, one with dots, etc. so there is variety and the fabrics still go well together.
- Make your own printed fabric using Iron-On Transfer Paper. You can print the college’s logo and add it to the front of a mini pillow before it is sewn together!
- Check if the school has a tartan print associated with it. Some universities have their own tartan you may be able to find something similar at the fabric store. Some University’s also sell things like “pet bandanas”. It may not be the most economical but it would be the exact tartan!
- Choose fabrics that match the students major. You can find just about anything on Etsy like this accountant fabric, nurse fabric, or justice scale fabric perfect for a law school student.
- Use a cutting machine like a Cricut to decorate an embroidery hoop with the University’s name and hang it in the center of the pillow wreath like I did for my August Sunflower Wreath. For some of the local universities near me I wasn’t able to find licensed fabric online but I did find SVG cut files with their name and mascot.
I have made a lot of different pillow wreaths that you can check out. Most of them are all made the same way with just a few small variations.
> Check out my Ultimate Guide to Making Pillow Wreaths
Supplies Needed
- Free Template – Download the free template by filling out the purple form at the bottom of this post.
- Fabric – about a quarter yard of five different fabrics works well. Each pillow is made with a 5.5″ x 4.5″ rectangle of fabric. I recommend more fabric when using a directional print like the licensed team fabrics.
- Coordinating thread and needle
- Ribbon – 3 – 4 rolls depending on how long you cut the ribbon ties.
- Poly-Fil stuffing
- 12″ Wire wreath frame – I purchased this Pack of 5 Wire Wreath Forms
- Point Turner and Embroidery Scissors are useful!
Step One: Cut the pillows.
The number of pillows you will need varies depending on how full you want your wreath and how you arrange them. I like to make around 30-35 pillows knowing I may have a few leftover. For this wreath I used 30 pillows.
Download the free template from my Resource Library or cut 5.5″ x 4.5″ rectangles. This includes a 1/4″ seam allowance.
Step Two: Stitch the pillows on the sewing machine.
Fold the pillows in half (short side to short side) and stitch around the three edges using your sewing machine and 1/4″ seam allowance. Leave an opening in the long side (opposite the fold) so you can stuff each pillow.
Trim the corners and clip your loose threads.
Turn the pillow inside out and use a point tuner to gently poke out the corners.
Step Three: Stuff each pillow!
Use Poly-fil stuffing to stuff each pillow. Overstuffing them will make it harder to close up each pillow. Pin the opening closed and hand stitch it using a small whip stitch and coordinating thread.
It can be time consuming to make all these little pillows but once they are machine stitched the rest can be done away from the machine. I like to finish the pillows outside while my kids play, while catching up on a Netflix show, or even in the car on road trips!
Step Four: Tie each pillow to the wire wreath form using ribbon.
Now it’s time to arrange the pillows on the wire wreath form and tie them on with a piece of ribbon. I use 8″ pieces of ribbon but you may want to cut your ribbon a little longer since it can be tricky tying them on.
I recommend testing out one pillow and deciding on the best length for you before cutting all of your ribbon. If you need longer ribbons to help you tie them on, you can come back after they are all tied on and trim them so they aren’t too long.
Tie the pillows to the wreath from starting with the outer ring. Each pillow is tied to two wire hoops of the wreath.
Sometimes it is useful to arrange the pillows before tying them on and take a picture with your phone. It is a bit of a puzzle making sure pillows of the same fabric aren’t directly next to each other. For this pillow, there are 13 pillows on the outer ring, 10 on the middle ring, and 7 on the innermost ring for a total of 30 pillows.
Move to the middle ring after the outer ring is completed and tie each pillow around the two middle wire rings. Finally add the third row of pillows, tie the ribbon around the two inner metal rings.
Step Five: Add a hanging loop to the back of the wreath.
Use ribbon to add a small loop to the back of the wreath so it can be hung. I usually have the ribbon go around the two outer rings of the wreath form. Your wreath is now ready to be hung and enjoyed or gifted to someone special!
I’m really happy with how this wreath turned out! I like the mix of fabrics and the two different licensed fabrics I found were so much fun. Would you believe I had the other three fabrics in my stash!? I love when I can shop my stash :) This is a great wreath for not only students of the university but also family members, alumni and fans!
Get the Free Pillow Wreath Template!
Fill out the purple form below with your first name and email address! The free file will be sent straight to your inbox! If you have already filled out the form below, don’t worry – you won’t be added to my list twice! This freebie is for personal use only. I hope you enjoy crafting something special. Please let me know if you have any questions :)
