How to Make Megaphone Pillows

Megaphone pillows look fantastic dressing a teenage girl's bed. They also make great giveaways at cheerleading camp or as fun favors for a sleepover. They are made with felt using the school colors of your cheerleaders, which makes them an instant winner to the recipients. These megaphone pillows are easy to make and are a wonderful teaching project for youngsters just learning to sew.

Things You'll Need

• Wrapping paper
• Yardstick
• Pen
• 1/3 yard felt, main school color
• Straight pins
• Scissors
• One craft sheet of felt, secondary school color
• Heavy duty fusible web
• 3-inch stencil letters
• Iron
• Sewing machine
• Stuffing
• Sewing needle and matching thread
• Small piece corrugated cardboard
• Craft knife
• Yarn, school color

Instructions

1. Measure and trace a 12-inch wide by 18-inch long rectangle on the back of the wrapping paper. Find the center of one short side and mark. Measure 3 inches on each side of the center and mark. This will make this short side 6 inches long. Using a yardstick as a straight edge connect one end of the 12-inch side to one end of the 6-inch side. Repeat by connecting the other 12-inch and 6-inch ends. The finished shape will resemble a triangle with a blunt point. Cut the shape out. This is the body pattern for your megaphone pillow.

2. Double the main color felt and pin the megaphone pillow pattern through both layers. Cut the felt out. Measure and cut a 2 1/2-inch wide by 6-inch long piece of main color felt for the megaphone handle.

3. Place the fusible web glue side down on the secondary school color felt and iron. Place the letter stencils "R", "A" and "H" on the paper side of the fusible web in reverse. Trace the letters. Cut the letters out and remove the paper from the back. With the glue side down, place the letters spelling "RAH" in the center length of one pillow side. Iron the letters to adhere. This is your pillow front.

4. Fold the handle felt in half lengthwise and pin. Sew the raw edges together using a 1/4-inch seam allowance. Turn the handle right side out and press. Place the pillow front right side up. Match one end of the handle to the top edge of the pillow front 6 inches from the shorter end of the pillow front. Skip 4 inches and pin the other end of the handle. Place the other megaphone pillow piece on top. Match the edges and pin. Sew around the pillow using a 1/4-inch seam allowance. Leave a 3-inch opening along the bottom edge for turning. Turn the megaphone pillow right side out and stuff. Sew the opening closed.

5. Cut a 4-inch square from the corrugated cardboard. Cut a small hole in the center of the cardboard with the craft knife. This hole does not need to look pretty. Wrap yarn around the cardboard 40 times. Cut a 6-inch piece of yarn. Thread the yarn down through the hole on the cardboard, around the wrapped yarn and up the other side of the hole. Tie the yarn piece in a knot. Cut the wrapped yarn on both edges of the cardboard and fluff to create a pom-pom. Using the center tie yarn piece to tie the pom-pom to the megaphone handle.