DIY Solar System Pillow

Create this Solar System Space pillow using hand appliqué and embroidery. A fun DIY you can customize for your favorite space lover! This post includes a free template and picture tutorial to help you get started :) 

Hello Crafty Friends! Today I have a new fun pillow project to share with you – a DIY solar system pillow! I love the solar system quilts I have seen and wanted to do something similar with a body pillow we weren’t using. It was the perfect size to turn into a floor pillow for my son’s room.

For this solar system pillow, I used a beautiful midnight blue corduroy my mom purchased back in the ’90s. It was so fun finding a use for this fabric, it is so gorgeous my pictures don’t really do it justice! The corduroy was a perfect backdrop for all of the planets and stars.

My son helped me pick out the fabrics for the planets at Joann Fabrics. We took a couple of his space books with us and used them to help us choose the fabrics. It was a fun shopping experience a great chance to include him. I also used his space books to help determine the size of the planets and to make sure I included things like the Great Red Spot of Jupiter. 

I chose to do all of the appliqué and embroidery by hand. Hand sewing is my jam so this was the easiest for me. I tried to include some fun elements that the kids would like looking at – the martian and Plutonian as well a the rocket ship and UFO.

When possible I tried to be accurate, for example I included the astroid belt in between Mars and Jupiter and included some of the planets’ moons. You can see see four of Jupiter’s largest moons (including Ganymede, which is actually larger than Mercury!), our moon, Titan (Saturn’s moon) and Triton (Neptune’s biggest moon). Not everything is exactly to scale and not everything is included but that was okay with me! You can choose to be as accurate as you want!

Below is the tutorial for how I created the pillow along with a free pattern for the planets, spaceship and comets.

DIY Solar System Pillow

Supplies Needed:

• Free printable pattern: Grab the free pattern by filling out the purple form at the end of this post.
• Dark blue or black background fabric (I used midnight blue corduroy)
• Cotton fabric for planets
• Felt scraps for comets, spaceship, UFO, moons and astroid belt. (I used felt in the following colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, light grey and dark grey.
• Wonder Under Fusible Web – heat transfer paper
• Embroidery thread that matches planet fabrics
• Light grey, silver or white embroidery thread for orbit lines
• Invisible zipper – Dark blue or black 20″-22″ 
• Alien patches – I found mine at Joann Fabrics.
  • Here are some possible options on Amazon – Alien spaceship, astronauts and space-themed patches.
• Sewing notions: straight pins, fabric scissors, ruler
• *optional – Appliqué Pressing Sheet

Step by Step Tutorial

Step One: Cut out the all of the fabric pieces needed for appliqué.

Download and print the free printable pattern. Trace the pattern pieces onto the Wonder Under. I like to do this by laying the Wonder Under, paper side up, on top of the printed pattern. I can then see through the Wonder Under and trace all of the pieces using a pencil. Don’t forget to label your planets as you go! 

Once you’ve traced all of the pattern pieces, bubble cut each piece leaving space around them. 

Press each piece of fusible web onto the wrong side of the corresponding fabric.

I have started using an appliqué pressing sheet for this step and it has been so nice! It helps prevent my iron from touching any of the fusible web accidentally. 

Follow the same process for all of the felt pieces that make the rocket ships, 

Step Two: Cut out the background fabric.

You will need two pieces for the pillow that measure 48.5″ x 18″, not including seam allowance. I left about 2″ seam allowance all around. On the top piece, that will have the solar system appliquéd to it, I needed to see the seam lines on the right side of the fabric. This way, as I stitched my design, I could keep all of the appliqué inside the seam lines and also make sure to extend my orbit lines past the seam lines. I marked the rectangle seam lines on the back of the fabric with pencil and then I “thread-traced” the seam lines using a running stitch and white thread. I could see the white running stitch from the front of the fabric and remove these lines later. (You can see my thread-tracing along the top of the pillow in the third picture below).

Step Three: Place the sun and create the orbit lines.

Start the solar system design by placing the sun on one side of the background fabric. My sun is placed about 5.25″ from the left and 5.25″ from the top. Peel the Wonder Under from the back of the sun and iron it into place. Next, mark all the way around the sun with pins. This way you can see the outline of the sun from the back side of the fabric.

Draw the orbit rings onto the back side of the fabric radiating from the sun. I did nine orbit rings, spaced 3.5″ apart, around the sun. We ended up including Pluto to represent the dwarf planets. Start from the sun and mark 3.5″ all the way around it. This will be the first orbit line for Mercury. Continue drawing orbit lines until you have the number you need. Use white pencil and mark on the wrong side of the fabric.

Embroider the orbit lines using white, light grey or silver embroidery floss. I used a light grey and it showed up really nicely on my corduroy. I used a small running stitch and worked from the back of the fabric following my pencil lines.

Step Four: Place the planets and other space items.

I laid out all of the planets, comets, spaceships, etc. that I had until I liked the layout. Then I ironed each piece in place by peeling off the Wonder Under. The alien monster patches were a fun addition to the pillow! I chose to place one on Mars and one on Pluto.

Step Five: Time to appliqué! 

Since I love the look of hand sewing and enjoy doing it, I chose to hand appliqué everything onto my pillow. I used the blanket stitch and matching embroidery thread for each planet. The stitches needed to be smaller on the smaller planets to go around them nicely. For the felt moons, asteroid belt, and Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, I used a small backstitch. The rocket was a combination of both blanket stitch and running stitch.

I added stars in a slightly metallic embroidery thread which was really fun! I randomly placed the asteroid belt using small uneven pieces of light and dark grey felt. 

Step Six: Finish the pillow case!

I decided to flat line, or back, the front piece of my pillow with a layer of quilting flannel. I think this makes the pillow softer and also helps keep the front smooth by making it thicker. You can stitch the two layers together in the seam allowance or just hold them together with pins. 

I inserted an invisible zipper, 20″-22″ navy blue, along the short end near Pluto. I referenced one of my sewing books, Reader’s Digest Complete Guide to Sewing, but you can also find tutorials and videos online if you search how to put in an invisible zipper.

Once the zipper was inserted, I put right sides of the pillow together and stitched around the pillow along the seam lines. Make sure to open your zipper before doing this so you can then flip the pillow right side out through the zipper hole.

The pillow is finished!

I love the way this pillow turned out and it fills up the space under my son’s book shelf perfectly! Making pillows is such a fun way to add a handmade touch to a room. Check out my other pillow tutorials!

More Pillow Tutorials on Crafting Cheerfully

• Rainbow Pillow
• Unicorn Pillow
• Holiday Ombré Tree Pillow
• Christmas Unicorn Pillow

Get the Free Solar System Space Pillow 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 :)