Easy Tooth Fairy Pillow Tutorial

Soooo.... My oldest daughter has her first loose tooth, and so... we just HAD to have a new Tooth Fairy pillow!!!!

Here I will show you step by step how to make the pillows pictured here.  You can vary them in many ways!  Be creative!

Supplies: 2 6" squares of cotton fabric, 1 6" square of white felt, and 1 of blue felt, ribbon and embroidery floss.

A little note about felt before we get started.... there are different kinds of felt, craft felt and wool felt are the main two.  Do yourself a favor, and use wool felt... it's much easier to work with, it looks nicer when your done, and it's hardier.  Craft felt tends to tear easier, and it just doesn't look as nice.  Craft felt is WAAAYYY cheaper, but as they say, you get what you pay for, and you don't need very much.... so spring for the good stuff!

The pattern for the tooth is available here Download tf_pillow_2.pdf Print this out on plain ole paper and cut out the pattern of the tooth.

Pin the paper tooth to a white piece of felt and clip out around it.  You can pin in to a double later and clip out 2 teeth at a time, it's just as easy, and if you are making the tiny tooth fairy pillow, you will need two teeth anyway!  You only need one for the bigger blue pillow.

After your tooth is clipped out from felt, embroidery the face on.  It's nice to do this step now because it keeps the back of your pocket free of strings, so no little fingers are snagging them when they are reaching for money!  You can outline the cheeks, fill them in, or use pink circles of felt stitched on!  The eyes are tiny french knots, but buttons would be cute too!!

Next pin the cute little tooth with face onto the blue felt square.  You don't need the blue felt to be a full 6" x 6" but I like to start with it this size and applique the tooth.  This way you don't have to get the placement of the tooth exactly right!

Stitch the felt tooth to the blue square using plain ole white floss... keep your stitches neat and tiny... not like mine! HA! :)

Time to trim the felt!  I used decorative shears to cut the top part of the blue felt, because this is the top of the pocket and it looks cute!  Pinking shears would work great too!  I took about 3/4" off of the top total.  Also, take about 1/2" off the bottom.  This will make the pocket just the right size.  And make sure your tooth is centered more or less.

next, I like to baste the pocket to the front piece of cotton.  it just makes things easier.  So lay the first 6" sq. of cotton face up, and then lay the felt pocket on top of it.  Sew around it, very close to the edges so it will be hidden in the seam of the pillow.

Cut a ribbon to the length you think is good.  It kind of depends on where you want to hang it.  If you want it to hang on a hook or drawer pull, you don't need a very long ribbon, but for a door knob or bed post, you would need a longer ribbon.  You can also forget about the ribbon all together, and it's just a pillow!!  Tack the ribbon in place.  When you sew the pillow together, you will leave the part in the middle of the ribbon open for turning and stuffing.

Now that the front of the pillow is all basted together, pin the back of the pillow to the front with right sides together.  Sew around the edges with about a 1/2" seam.  A big seam like this is nice and sturdy for lots of use!  Remember to leave the middle top open for turning and stuffing.  Before you turn the pillow right side out clip off the corners so they will look nice and sharp!

Stuff your pillow and hand sew the top closed with a whip stitch!  Use Polyfil stuffing!  It's the best!  Cheap stuffing makes for lumpy pillows, and you've already done all this work, so make it nice!  :)  This version of the Tooth Fairy pillow is all finished!  How does it look?! 

If you want to make the tiny pillow that is made up of just the little tooth!  Do this.... start at the beginning, cutting 2 teeth out instead of one... embroider the face on the front.  On the back side, stitch a little pocket on.  I cut out a pink heart from felt and just simply stitched around the bottom half.  This is a very tiny pocket.  It's great for a tooth, but I'm not sure where the fairy is gonna leave the big ole dollar bills she lives here!

Once the face and back are completely stitched, pin them together with right sides facing out.  Using white floss, whip stitch around the edges.  It's good to start towards the top of one side so you can easily stuff those fang things.

Before you get all the way around, stop and add a little polyfil to your pillow.  I use hemostats for almost everything, and especially this!  They are like scissors, but they grab instead of cut.  So you can grab some stuffing and shove it right down into the bottom there!  Do you need some hemostats?  I sell them here.  (shameless plug, I'm sorry.)  Once the little tooth is stuffed, finish stitching him up and knot off your thread!

That's it!  You're all done!  This is just a tiny lil' pillow that would fit right in the palm of a child's hand!  How special and fun!!

That's it!  We're all done!  I hope you had fun and found a little bit of use from this!  If you're feeling frisky, send me a picture of what you made!  Maybe someday if enough people make this, I'll set up a flickr group where we can all post pics of our cute little darlings with their lost teeth and their pillows bursting with money :)!

Another idea is to grab a little tiny Manila envelope and label it with your child's name and the date.  This will help the tooth fairy keep organized! 

Please feel free to make these for your self or as gifts, but do not make them to sell.  This pattern and instruction is only intended for your personal use, not commercial.  It is copy right to me, Missy ballance, 2007.  THANK YOU!!!!  now go sew!  and then come back and leave a comment!  LOLOLOL!

UPdate:  I just added a flickr group so you all can add your pics there, please :)  Thanks!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/26763512@N00/

Comments

[Lawrence Gilstrap]

How cute is this tooth fairy pillow! It doesn't look like a fairy at all. Hahaha! This seems easy. I'll try and do one later.

[Landy]

Dear Missy, thanks so much for this tutorial. I just made 2 cute tooth pillows for my kid. She loves them. Here's the link to my blog http://mypilo.blogspot.com/2011/05/first-loose-tooth.html
Warmest regards from Jakarta. Landy ^^

[Katia Craig]

The pillows look so cute! I'd love to make one for my little kiddies. This tooth fairy thing made me remember one of the funniest stories in the household. My son lost a tooth back then. Of course, he'd keep the tooth, right? He placed it on top of the cabinet for a while and looked for some kind of a pouch where he'd put it. Coincidentally, one of my brother's dental implants was on that same cabinet. My son mistakenly got that implant and put it in the pouch. It's a good thing that the tooth fairy didn't get it. LOL! Oh, those were the good ol' days back in Sarasota. Anyway, I'll be making one of these for my daughters. Thanks for the patterns!

[Christy]

Thanks so much for the tutorial! I am going to make one of these for my daughter. She just got her first loose tooth this this week, so exciting:-)

[Pastiche]

This is so sweet - and easy enough for beginning stitchers. I've added a link back to this crafty tooth fairy project from my lens, Tooth Fairy Legend (http://www.squidoo.com/toothfairylegend)

[Mary Webb]

Thank you! Keep creating. I love it. Maybe I'll come up with something someday. Mary

[Catherine]

Tho the kids are past it The grandkids are coming up fast oh and the great grandkids :)))

[Silvana]

Muito obrigada, estao lindissimos!!!
Thank you, they are so pretty!
My daughter hasn't lost any teeth yet but she has two that are starting to get a little wiggly and I am looking for ideas on tooth fairy pillows. It looks like these will work just fine for what I need. They are very creative and cute too!

[amy]

Thank you for this idea! I made one for my daughter who has her first wiggly tooth! We can't wait to use it. I am planning on making them for my two younger sons soon and putting them away for them! So crafty!

[Rhonda]

Hey Missy! Thank you SOO much for this cute tutorial! I made a couple for my kids today:

http://craftyblessings.blogspot.com/2009/04/tooth-pillows.html

[Kim Lotarski]

Thanks so much for the tooth fairy pillow tutorial!
Super cute - and my girls love it. (I will make another one today for my 4 year old even though she isn't even close to losing a tooth)
I took a picture - but don't have a clue how to post it! :0

[Jan Kappmeyer]

We got to use the first of the many tooth fairy pillows I made for my grand kids last night! What fun it was. If you want to read about a very happy little boy go check out http://kgusfam.blogspot.com/
Thanks again, we love them
Jan

[melissa]

Great ideas thanks
http://www.143kids.com

[Jan Kappmeyer]

Thanks so much for this tutorial. I made one for each of my grand kids and a few for gifts! So cute!

[ladybugcda]

Hello from the Toothfairy Online!
Your pillows are a charming project for crafty folks! Please visit my whimsical yet informative website, it is sure to make you smile!
Good-bye, gotta fly!
www.toothfairycyberspace.com

[ginger]

Love this tutorial so very cute ! Thank you so much!
hugs ginger

[Julie]

I have one of these I made witout your pattern and yours looks so much better!

[Claire k]

merci pour toutes vos jolies choses!!!
i will try...

[Debra Asmussen]

My little girl is 4 1/2 and is very excited about losing her teeth. She has yet to loose one but has friends that have. I have been looking around for a pillow to make for both of my children (I had a really cute one when I was little). This is by far the cutest pattern I have seen. I can't wait to get started!!

[ScaryCheri]

very cute. I think I will make one for my granddaughters who seem to be losing all their teeth at once, poor things, how do they eat? lol. Thanks for sharing the pattern. Hugz, Scary

[Lady D'Onne Smith]

Thanks so much. I think even I could make these for grands...hugs Lady D'Onne

[antonella]

it's very nice!!!!

I put a link in my blog!

antonella from Italy

[jennifer peterson]

thank you my oldest has lost 2 teeth and I NEEED to make one of these thanks Jen

[Mel]

That is the cutest tooth fairy pillow! Thanks so much for sharing it! My daughter will love it!

[norththreads]

Pure Sweetness!

[Jenny H]

That has to be the cutest tooth fairy pillow I have ever seen! Thank you so much for sharing!!!!

[Michelle]

Missy,
These are adorable!!! Thank you soooo much for sharing! Charlotte is going to LOVE it! Now, I can have an excuse to buy more fabric too!

[carole crawford]

this is so cute and looks very easy..

[sandy]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISSY!!!!!!!!
Hope you have an awesome day :)
hugs..
Sandy

[Nicole]

WAAAAY cute! Much cuter than my sons boring ole pillow that just has a pocket on the front.

[claire]

CUUUTTEEE! I am so making one of these, ASAP! Even though my kids are years away from needig one.