Football Fleece Tie Pillows

It’s the most exciting part of football season…time for the playoffs, then the Big Game! If you’re planning on hosting, or even just watching at home, here’s a quick and easy project to add a little extra team spirit: Football Fleece Tie Pillows. This project only requires three supplies, and you don’t need to have any special crafting skills. As long as you can cut with scissors and tie a few knots, you’re good to go.

You’ll need:

2/3 yards of fleece fabric

14″ pillow form

scissors

Creating Your Football Tie Pillows

Step 1: Cut your fleece into two 24″ squares, one for the front and one for the back of the pillow.

2/3 yard of fabric will give you two 24″ squares with a little bit left over. This will allow you to make one pillow with the same fabric on the front and back. The other option, which I personally prefer, is to use a printed fleece for the front and a coordinating solid fleece for the back, making it reversible. For my pillows, I used a football print fleece along with a solid green, and a Ravens fleece paired with black. If you choose to do this, you’ll still need 2/3 yard of each fabric due to the width, but you’ll be able to make a set of two pillows.

Step 2: Lay the fleece pieces on top of each other with the right sides facing out.

Step 3: Cut a 4 1/2″ square from each corner. Then, make cuts on the remaining fleece on each side that are 4 1/2″ deep and about an inch apart.

These cuts will create the fringe that you’ll tie together. If you want to put the corner scraps to use, you can make a bonus project by sewing around the squares and filling them with rice or dried beans to make beanbags. Then, the kids or the young at heart can enjoy tossing them around during the game.

PRO TIP: These measurements are for a 14″ pillow. If you prefer a larger or smaller one, just buy a different size pillow form and cut your original squares to be the size of the pillow + 10.” Since my pillow was 14,” I needed a 24″ square. For a 20″ pillow, you’d want a 34″ square, or for a 12″ pillow, a 22″ square and so on. The measurements for the corner cuts and the fringe cuts will remain the same no matter what your pillow size is.

Step 4: Tie the fringes on three sides of the fleece together.

Each cut you made should give you a pair of fringes; one from the top fleece and one from the bottom. These are what you want to tie to one another. Wrap the bottom fringe over and around the top one to form the first part of the knot, then wrap the top one over and around the bottom and pull. This will give you a secure knot. The printed fringe should still be on top.

Step 5: Slide the pillow form in between the two layers. Then, finish knotting the final side.

That’s all there is to it! Depending on the fleece you use, you can support your favorite team(s) or just the sport in general. Of course, you can also make non-football themed pillows too using these same steps.

If your pillow ever needs washing, simply un-tie the knots on one side and slide the pillow form out, then machine wash the fleece. Some of the knots may come undone in the wash; just re-tie them, slip your pillow back in, and you’re back in business. These pillows are so soft and comfy, and they’re perfect for snuggling up with on the couch during the Big Game.