DIY St. Patrick’s Day Pillow Wreath
Create a DIY pillow wreath for St. Patrick’s Day! A great sewing project for beginner sewers and perfect for your favorite green fabrics!
This past weekend I finished up making a new pillow wreath – this time a St. Patrick’s Day Pillow Wreath! My mom and I love creating pillow wreaths for the holidays and this new wreath is a great addition to our collection.
This wreath was so fun. It was created with a mix of new fabrics I found at my local quilt shop and fabrics I had in my stash. Now that I have a wreath for this holiday, I’m hoping to make a few more handmade decorations to go along with it.
One of our favorite traditions is having a really nice St. Patrick’s Day dinner. Last year I made a traditional Irish Coddle following this recipe from Wholefully with soda bread. It gave me a chance to use my beautiful new dutch oven! I still have to figure out what we’re going to try for dinner this year.
Below is the tutorial for making this St. Patrick’s Day Pillow Wreath. It is the same process as all of my other pillow wreaths – just slightly different based on the number of fabrics and pillows used.
> Check out my Ultimate Guide to Making Pillow Wreaths!
I first learned to make these pillow wreaths from my mom, who made her first one, a Christmas one, in the early 1980s. Growing up, I always loved when she brought this wreath out for the holidays, and now I love seeing them hanging in my own house. This St. Patrick’s Day Pillow wreath was extra fun because my mom and I made matching ones together.
St. Patrick’s Day Pillow Wreath
Supplies Needed
- Free Template – Grab the free file by filling out the purple form at the end of this post.
- Fabric
- 12″ wire wreath form
- Poly-fil Stuffing
- 3/8″ ribbon
- Thread
- Point turner
- Pins
- Needle
- Fabric scissors (I also find small embroidery scissors are useful too!)
Step by Step Tutorial
Step One: Cut out the fabric for the pillows.
Download and print the free template or create your own using cardboard. The pattern should measure 4.5″ x 5.5″
The pattern is for the entire pillow (it gets folded in half) and includes a 1/4″ seam allowance. For any fabrics with a pattern or writing, keep in mind the pattern has a top. Each pillow is folded in half, bringing the two 4.5″ sides together so the pillow measures 4.5″ x 2.75″.
For the 12″ diameter wreath, you will need about 29-35 pillows, depending on how full you want your wreath to look. For this wreath I used 32 pillows made from six different fabrics. I usually try to make 5 or 6 pillows from each fabric (unless I use a charm pack). For this wreath, some of the fabrics I was using were scraps I had on hand that only made a few pillows each. To make up for that, I just made extra pillows of the fabrics I had more of.
Step Two: Stitch the fabric pillows together.
For each pillow, fold the fabric in half, right sides together, 4.5″ side to 4.5″ side. Sew, with a 1/4″ seam allowance, each side/corner of the pillow, leaving an opening on the long side to stuff the pillow.
Flip the pillows inside out and push out all of the corners.
Step Three: Stuff the pillows and sew the opening closed.
Don’t overstuff the pillows, making them too hard, as this will make it harder to tie them with ribbon. Once stuffed, use a coordinating thread to sew the pillows closed.
Step Four: Tie the pillows onto the wreath using ribbon.
Tie each pillow onto the wire wreath form with a piece of ribbon about 8″ long. I recommend testing the 8″ out with one pillow before cutting all of the ribbon. You may find you want to cut the ribbon a little longer at 10″ to make tying the pillows on easier. Once you decide on an ideal length, you can cut them all out. You can always trim the ribbons down after they are all tied :)
Start on the outer ring and work your way in. For this wreath the outer ring has 14 pillows, the middle has 10 pillows, and the inner ring has 8 pillows. So I used 32 pillows total. You can decide how full you want your wreath to look and always do more or less. This Christmas wreath was made with 35 pillows; 14 for the outer ring, 12 for the middle ring, and 9 for the inner ring. This Thanksgiving wreath was made with 30 pillows; 13 for the outer ring, 10 on the middle ring and 7 on the inner ring. So you can see – you can really do it however you want!
Arranging the pillows can take some time. I like to lay all of my pillows out and then take a picture before actually tying them on. It’s like a puzzle trying not to have too many pillows with the same color next to each other.
Each pillow is tied over two wires of the wire wreath form.
Once the pillows are all tied on the outer ring, move on to the middle ring, and then the inner ring.
Step Five: Add a little ribbon loop to the back so the wreath can be hung up.
The St. Patrick’s Day Pillow Wreath is finished! They really are fun to make and a great beginner sewing project! It takes a while to stuff the pillows and hand sew them closed, but it’s a great project to do while catching up on your favorite shows :)
I’ll be back later this week with another fun craft for St. Patrick’s Day!
>> The Ultimate Guide to Making Pillow Wreaths!
Get the Free Pillow Wreath Pattern!
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 :)