This Valentine pillow that looks just like a love letter or some other special piece of mail! The pillow has all the details to look like an addressed envelope, and even has a pocket on the back where you can tuck special messages or fill it with felt hearts.
I’ve got a free pattern for you below.
As much as I rely on email and text messaging to stay in contact with friends, I still can’t get over the thrill of seeing an envelope addressed to me in my mailbox. Unless it’s a bill or something official looking, that’s another story.
This love letter Valentine pillow is made to be like the good kind of mail.
It looks like an envelope on the front – and the back. The back even has the layered flaps just like a paper envelope does.
And there’s an extra surprise – a functioning pocket where you can tuck a special treat or sweet note!
I think it could also be fun to tuck a bunch of felt hearts inside the pocket. Kids can pull them out to play with them, either as a sorting game or as a seek-and-find game where one child (or adult) hides the hearts around the room for another kid to find.
I used a white home dec weight cotton for the main fabric, and a Valentine novelty print for the pocket lining. For the stamp, I used a scrap of fabric with a heart print on it, finished off with some ric rac to look like the perforated edges of a stamp. The address block is just lines of printed ribbon. If you wanted to personalize your pillow, you could use embroidery or a paint pen to write out an address block.
Finished dimensions are 12” tall x 16” wide.
How to Sew the Love Letter Valentine Pillow
Supplies
Main fabric – 1 yard home dec weight cotton fabric
Lining fabric – ½ yard quilting weight cotton fabric
Lightweight fusible interfacing – 1.5 yards
12” x 16” pillow form
3/8” grosgrain ribbon (1 yard)
Scrap fabric for stamp
Ric rac (optional) – 12”
Fusible webbing – scrap
Thermoweb Fabric Fuse Liquid Glue
Free pattern – Love Letter Valentine Envelope
All seam allowances ½” unless otherwise noted. RST = Right Sides Together
Prep
Cut your pattern pieces from your fabrics. You will also need to cut the following additional pieces from your fabrics:
Pillow Front – 1 piece 13” x 17”. This will be the Envelope Front.
Pillow Lining – 1 piece 13” x 17”. This will be the Lining.
Interfacing – 1 piece 12” x 16”.
Follow manufacturer’s instructions to fuse lightweight interfacing to the backs of the following pieces:
- Back Envelope Base
- Top Flap (main fabric)
- Bottom Flap
- Pillow Front (13” x 17” main fabric)
The Top and Bottom Flap are cut out using the same pattern piece. The Top Flap will be made from one main fabric and one lining piece. The Bottom Flap will be made from two main fabric pieces.
Sew the Back Envelope Base
Places the Back Envelope Base pieces RST. Sew along top (V-shaped) edge. Leave the sides and bottom open.
Clip curves and notch inner corner. Turn right side out and press.
Topstitch along top (V-shape) edge with 1/8” seam allowance.
Sew the Top and Bottom Flaps
Place the Top Flap and Bottom Flap pieces RST. The Top Flap uses one main fabric piece and one lining piece. The Bottom Flap uses two main fabric pieces.
Sew these pieces together along the V-shaped edge.
Clip curves. Turn right side out and press.
On the Top Flap, top stitch along the V-shaped edge with 1/8” seam allowance. DO NOT topstitch the Bottom Flap.
Assemble the Pillow Back
Place the Bottom Flap along the bottom edge of the Back Envelope Base, centered horizontally and with both pieces right sides up.
Baste across the bottom with ¼” seam allowance.
Now, topstitch along the V-shape of the Bottom Flap with 1/8” seam allowance to attach the rest of the Bottom Flap to the Back Envelope Base so it mimics the look of a folded paper envelope.
Place the Back Envelope Base on top of the Pillow Lining, with both pieces right sides up. Baste in place around sides and bottom with ¼” seam allowance.
Now take the Top Flap and place it across the top of the Pillow Lining, with both pieces right sides up. Baste in place across the top with a ¼” seam allowance.
Now your Pillow Back looks just like a paper envelope, with a colorful lining and a flap at the top you can open.
Assemble the Pillow Front
To make the stamp applique, first cut a piece of fabric slightly larger than 2” square. Then, follow manufacturer’s instructions to fuse some fusible webbing to the back. Remove the paper backing, then trim the fabric to 2” square.
Optional: You can use ric rac to add perforated edges to the stamp. Just cut lengths of ric rac and glue them around the stamp, attaching them to the back of the fabric square so the ridges of the ric rac peek out from the edges. You will be gluing on top of the fusible webbing. That’s okay.
Place the stamp in the upper left corner of your Pillow Front, 2.75” from the top and 2.75” from the right edge. Follow manufacturer’s instructions to fuse the stamp down to the Pillow Front.
Topstitch around the stamp with a 1/8” seam allowance to secure.
Now to add the address block.
Cut three pieces of ribbon, 6.5” each. one piece of ribbon
Place the first piece of ribbon 4.5” from the bottom of the Pillow Front and centered horizontally. (The ends of the ribbon should be 5 3/8” from each side of the Pillow Front.) Glue in place using Thermoweb Fabric Fuse Liquid Glue.
Now that you’ve got the first piece of ribbon placed, the others will be a lot easier. Glue the remaining two pieces of ribbon directly above that first piece of ribbon with roughly ½” between rows.
When the glue has dried, go back and topstitch each piece of ribbon to secure.
Assemble the Love Letter Pillow
Place the Pillow Front and Pillow Back RST. Sew around all four sides, leaving 7” open on one end.
Clip corners. Turn right side out and press.
Insert pillow form through the turning hole. It will be a tight squeeze but the pillow form will make it through the hole.
Use a ladder stitch to hand sew the turning hole closed.
Your Valentine Love Letter Pillow is finished!
If you love this DIY Valentine pillow tutorial, you will love some of Anne’s other Valentine’s Day themed sewing tutorials!
[…] and a functional pocket where you can tuck a sweet note for small treat. How cute is that! Go to Bombshell Bling for the free sewing […]