Do you have a friend who is perky? Does the description go something like this: bright, happy, bouncy, cute? We think these plump and pretty pillows are perfectly perky. I got a quarter for every ‘P’ I used in that sentence.

Each of our positively perky pillows (sorry … I’ll stop now, I have enough quarters for a soda), is made up of two squares. We picked different fabrics for our pillow fronts and backs, making them reversible.

Remember, this pillow does not have an opening for easy removal of the pillow form, which means you can’t pull off the cover to wash it. If it’s just a decorative toss pillow you take out for the season, you should be fine. Just don’t let Santa near it with his milk and cookies. He’s clumsy with those big, red mittens.

This is such a fun and easy project, we re-did is as part of our Re-imagine + Renovate series, using even bolder colors and motifs for a fun year ’round explosion of color. Click to review find this updated project of these pillows.

Sewing Tools You Need

Sewing machine and standard presser foot

Fabric and Other Supplies

Fabric for pillow front panel: ½ yard of 45″ wide fabric PER PILLOW: we originally used 4 four different Heather Bailey Pop Garden & Bijoux fabrics for our 4 pillows: Paisley in Blue (A), Wallpaper Roses in Green (B), Pineapple Brocade in Canary (C), Peonies in Red (D)
Fabric for pillow back panels: ½ yard of 45″ wide fabric PER PILLOW: we originally used four different Heather Bailey Pop Garden & Bijoux fabrics for our 4 pillows: Rose Bouquet in Cream (A), Mod Bead in Tangerine (B), Swirly Buds in Tangerine (C), Mod Bead in Canary (D)
Pom-pom trim in coordinating colors to fabrics: 1¾ yards PER PILLOW: we originally used a 1″ pom-pom in orange (A and D), gold (B), and green (C). Note: For our sample, you actually need 54″ per pillow, which is exactly 1½ yards, but it’s better to have a bit to spare – just in case there’s a horrible pom pom accident; you never know.
Fabric for covering button: we simply used leftover scraps from our fabrics to contrast against each fabric
Button covering kit (1″- 1½” button): you need 2 buttons PER PILLOW (some kits come with 1 – 4 buttons per package depending on button size)
12″ x 12″ pillow inserts: 1 PER PILLOW
All purpose thread
Button or carpet thread
See-through ruler
Fabric pencil
Iron and ironing board
Hand sewing needle
Specialty hand sewing upholstery and/or curved needle (optional)
Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
Straight pins

Getting Started

Using your see-through ruler and fabric pencil, draw out and cut two 13″ x 13″ squares per pillow.
Cut your pom pom trim to 54″. This is calculated as follows: perimeter of the pillow (13″ x 4 sides = 52″) + 2″ for finishing the ends.
Make two covered buttons per pillow, using a Cover Button Kit and following manufacturer’s directions. You can also refer to our tutorial: Button Kit Covered Buttons. Or, learn how to make you own with our tutorial: DIY Covered Buttons – No Kit Required.
Pick one front square and pin your pom pom trim all around the edge. It goes on the right side of the fabric with the raw edges aligned.
With pom pom fringe, it’s a good idea to start and finish at a corner. Start pinning, leaving about a 1″ tail. Keeping your trim and fabric edges even, continue all around the perimeter of the pillow.
When you get back to the starting point, trim your starting and ending ‘tails’ so you have just about a ¼” to fold under on each end and overlap at the corner. You’ll likely have one ‘pom’ dangling at the corner. That’s fine. If necessary you can carefully snip off a pom to create a more even spacing.

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

Secure the trim in place with a hand or machine basting stitch. If using your machine, choose the Zipper foot, which will allow you to stitch closer to the edge. A basting stitch insures your trim won’t slip and slide when you’re sewing your final seam. You can simply pin it in place as well, sandwiching it between the two fabric squares, but it’s a bit harder to control. As with all fringe-type trims, remember these rules: your fringe goes in between the two fabric layers, the raw edges of the fabric and the fringe are even, and whatever dangles from the fringe, in this case pom poms, is falling towards the middle of the pillow.
Find your corresponding back fabric square and pin to the front, right sides together. Leave an approximate 7-8″ opening at the center of one side. Use a left and right marking pin to indicate the opening. You can use double pins or some people like to use an upside down pin to indicate either side of an opening.
Using a ½” seam allowance and starting with a lock stitch at the right marking pin, sew to the first corner, pivot, sew and pivot around the next three sides, pivot at the fourth and final corner, sew up to your left marking pin and stop and lock your seam.
Clip the corners and turn your pillow cover right side out. The pom poms will pop out and hang free. Push out the trimmed corners from the inside to make nice, square corners on the outside. A long, blunt tool is best for this, like a chopstick, knitting needle or point turner.
Press the seams flat, pressing in the edges along the opening to match the sewn seam.
Insert your pillow form or pillow filler through the opening and fluff out the corners of the pillow evenly.
Using the hand sewing needle and matching thread, hand stitch the opening closed with a slip/ladder stitch.
Using a long needle (either a 4-6″ doll maker’s needle or a 4-6″ upholstery needle) threaded with button, waxed or carpet thread, attach a covered button to each side of the finished pillow. If you are new to this technique, check out our full Tufting Tutorial prior to starting.

Hints and Tips

You can make your pom pom pillows in any size or shape. To decide how large you need to cut your fabric, determine the size you want to end up with, and then add 1″ all around for your seam allowance.
Using your measuring tape, measure the length and width of the pillow form you will be covering from finished seam to finished seam. We used an 12″ x 12″ pillow form.
Height of cut piece = finished pillow height + 1″ (½” seam allowance on each side)
Width of cut piece = finished pillow width + 1″ (½” seam allowance on both sides)
In our example, because our pillow is square, the formulas are identical:
Height of our cut piece = 12″ + 1″ = 13″
Width of our cut piece= 12″ + 1″ = 13″