How To Make A Christmas Advent Pillow

We are deep into the heart of fall and I am ready for the holidays! I thought I would kick off getting into the holiday spirit with a fun-themed sewing project. Today on Happiest Camper, I’m going to show you How To Make A Christmas Advent Pillow! This is such a fun project for even the beginner sewer! All stitches on the pillow are straight and simple. This would be a perfect project to have your little ones help out with, especially when it comes to stamping the numbers. I love advent calendars like this because you can integrate it easily with your holiday decor and it is an easy way to count down the days until Christmas. It is also a fun way to teach your kids about advent. This little pillow cover can be made in the afternoon. If you felt like it, you could make an extra one and give it away as a gift to another family who participates in advent. I think this project turned out so cute! I put this pillow cover on one of my couch pillows so it is one of the first things you see in the living room and it ties all the other decor together. 

It is fun as a family to count down the days to Christmas by moving the ornament each day until Christmas day. It has become a yearly tradition and the kids always ask me when we can break it out. You’ll only need a few supplies for this project. Gather them up from the list below and let’s get started!

What You’ll Need:

• 1 yard of Cotton Woven Fabric
• Felt or other small piece of fabric for ornament
• 3 yards of 1 ½ to 2” ribbon
• ½ yard of ½” to 1” ribbon or rick rack
• 20” x 20” pillow form or similar
• Number stamps with ink (Or vinyl that is a color of your choice with a cutting machine like a Cricut)
• Matching Thread
• Iron
• Pins
• Scissors 
• Optional Rotary Cutter & Mat
• Measuring tape 
• Thread nippers
• Sewing machine
• Fabric marker

How To Make A Christmas Advent Pillow

Step 1: Measure Pillow Form and Cut Out Pillow Fabric

The first step in this how to make a Christmas advent pillow sewing tutorial is to wash, dry, and iron your fabric. This process acts as a preshrink for the fabric so that your stitches don’t get messed up the first time you wash this pillow. Next, we need to measure and cut out the fabric. I suggest measuring the pillow form that your pillow cover will be going over. You may have to adjust your pillow cover if it is a bit more or less than 20” x 20”.  If your pillow is 20” x 20” then you will cut ONE 21” x 21” and TWO rectangles that are 21” x 15”.  Note that if your pillow form is slightly larger or smaller, then you will cut your square and rectangle an inch bigger or smaller than suggested. 

Step 2: Cut 1 ½” to 2” Ribbon and Sew onto Square Fabric

You will cut FOUR strips of the 1 ½” to 2” ribbon. I suggest cutting it a little bit longer than your pillow form, as you can always trim down later. I cut my strips about 22” long. 

You are going to lay the ribbon out horizontally on the front of the rectangle piece. Try to lay them out as evenly spaced as possible. My ribbon is more like 1 ½”, so evenly was about 3 ½” between each piece. Pin each ribbon to the front of the pillow cover, as this will help hold the ribbons while sewing. After the ribbon is pinned, you are going sew a straight stitch on the bottom of each ribbon. This will be the bottom of the “pockets”. 

Step 3: Sew FIVE Vertical Lines to Create Pockets

Next on this how to make a Christmas advent pillow sewing tutorial, you are then going to sew FIVE vertical stitches starting from the top and working your way down. This will create the actual pockets that the ornament will go in. Make sure that you have measured where you want each line to go. You want to make them as evenly dispersed as possible. You may even want to use some type of fabric pin or chalk to draw the vertical lines before sewing. 

HELPFUL HACK: I did not have a fabric pin or chalk pin available, but I knew I wanted my vertical lines to be about 3 ½” inches apart, so I decided to put a small piece of tape 3 ½”  from my sewing machine needle and use that as a line for my vertical stitches. For the first line, I just made sure the edge of the pillow was at the edge of the tape. For all other vertical lines, I folded the fabric and used the previous vertical stitch to guide the new vertical stitch. 

Once all vertical lines are stitched, cut off the extra ribbon along the edges. 

Step 4: Prep the Back of the Pillow Cover by Hemming the Rectangle Pieces

Now on this how to make a Christmas advent pillow sewing tutorial, we will work on the pillow cover. Fold a double 1/2” hem on the long side of the two rectangles. Press, pin and sew in place. 

Step 5: Cut the Ornament Piece and Sew Together

One of my favorite parts of this how to make a Christmas advent pillow sewing tutorial is making this little tree! I’m going to give directions on cutting a Christmas tree ornament, but if you are more creative you could cut an angel, a gingerbread man, or any other simple Christmas image. 

To cut the Christmas tree you will simply cut out a long triangle. My trees were about 4” tall. 

To sew your ornament, you will put right sides of the triangle together and put the ½” to 1” trim between the two pieces. The trim should be hanging out just slightly at the top of the triangle with most of the trim falling at the bottom of the triangle. 

After you have pinned the triangle together with the trim inside, sew the two longer sides of your triangle together, but leave the bottom unsewn. 

Flip the triangle right side out and the trim should be hanging from the top. 

Next, you will stuff your tree with either cotton or you can even use some of your scrap fabric. 

Once stuffed, fold the bottom about a ¼” into the inside and sew together. 

Step 6: Pin and Construct Pillow

Next on this how to make a Christmas advent pillow sewing tutorial, we will work on putting it all together. Lay the front pillow piece facing up and the two backs overlapping facing down.

All sides of the pillow should be right sides together. Take the ornament and place the top of the trim between the front and back of the pillow cover. The ornament will be inside right now. I made the mistake of placing the trim on the top corner, but it may be better if it was centered at the top center so the ornament can easily reach each pocket. 

As mentioned, the back of the pillow will be overlapping a few inches. Pin the edges of the pillow together. Make sure that the trim with the ornament is pinned to the edge as well so that it will be sewn in place.

Sew along all four edges of the pillow.

Once you have sewn all four corners, you can then flip the pillow cover so the right side is out. 

Step 7: Place Numbers on Ribbon

For the final step in this how to make a Christmas advent pillow sewing tutorial, we need to add numbers to the ribbons. I used stamps and ink to place the numbers onto the ribbon; however, you can also cut out vinyl using a Cricut and iron on the numbers instead.

No matter what method you decide on, you want to make sure that you put the numbers on the center of each “pocket” you created with the ribbon.

And that’s it! Now you know how to make a Christmas advent pillow! This was such a simple and easy project that would even be fun to complete with the kids. Children will love moving the ornament each night or morning as they eagerly anticipate Christmas morning! 

If you liked learning how to make a Christmas advent pillow, make sure to pin it to your favorite Pinterest board or share it with friends on social media. If you decide to make this simple project on your own, make certain that you take a picture afterward and tag us on social media as we love seeing the fabrics and color choices that people use!

More Christmas Sewing Projects:

• How to Sew a Christmas Stocking With Free Pattern
• DIY Paw Christmas Stocking
• Christmas Gift to Sew
• How to Paint Mason Jars for Christmas
• How To Make A Reversible Table Runner for Beginners
• How to Make a Cowl Scarf Sewing Tutorial