DIY Fleece Polar Bear Pillow

Good morning! I’m back this morning with the Third Day of a Handmade Holiday – a DIY Fleece Polar Bear Pillow! These make such a sweet gift around the holidays – but also any time of the year. I made pillows for my son and daughter using different accent fabrics for the polar bear’s ears. It’s a fun way to customize the pillows. Overall, the pillows came together quickly and are fairly inexpensive to make – especially if you have some of the supplies on hand. The free printable pattern below will make these even easier to whip together for the holidays!

Supplies Needed for DIY Polar Bear Holiday Pillow

• Free printable pattern: Polar Bear Holiday Pillow Pattern
• White fleece
• Scraps of grey fleece
• Scraps of felt for nose and eyes
• Scraps of accent fabric for ears
• Embroidery thread
• 12″ x 12″ pillow form
• Sewing notions: ruler, thread, pencil, scissors, needle, pins

Step 1: Cut the fabric. (Don’t forget to pre-wash everything!) Use the free printable pattern and the dimensions listed below to cut out all of your fabric pieces. You should have a total of 15 pieces. Twelve from the pattern and three from the dimensions listed below. 

• Cut one 13″x13″ square from white fleece (includes 1/2″ seam allowance)
• Cut two 9″ x 13″ rectangles from white fleece (includes 1/2″ seam allowance)

STEP 2: Create the ears. Each ear is made up of a white fleece outer ear and a patterned accent fabric inner ear. First, sew two inner ear pieces together, right sides together, trim seam allowance and flip inside out.

Position the inner ear on the right side of one of the white fleece outer ear pieces and top stitch it.

Now sew two outer ear pieces with right sides together (the patterned inner ear piece will be sandwiched on the inside). Flip inside out and the ear is completed.

STEP 3: Hand stitch snout, nose, and eyes. On the right side of the 13″x13″ white fleece square, pin the grey fleece snout and felt eyes and nose. With embroidery floss, hand stitch them on. I chose to use a contrasting color for the snout. Hand stitch a mouth with black embroidery floss. I used a running stitch for attaching the pieces and a back stitch for the mouth.

STEP 4:  Sew the pillow together. Pin the ears to the front face of the polar bear with right sides together. I pinned my ears to be as far to the sides as possible. This meant I needed to fold in the tips of the ears so they weren’t accidentally get sewn into the pillow seams! 

The two white fleece rectangles create the back of the pillowcase by overlapping one another. This way you can slip your pillow form in easily. Pin them to the front square, overlapping them, with right sides together. Sew around all four sides using a 1/2″ seam allowance. Clip your corners and turn the pillowcase inside out! Your pillowcase is ready for the pillow form!

Your Polar Bear Holiday Pillow is finished! These are so soft and a great size for children or for decorating :) I’ll be back soon with The Fourth Day of a Handmade Holiday! Yay Christmas crafting!