Halloween Pillows

 

I found this pattern at a store on Etsy called While They Dream. Trista’s patterns are very well written with lots of detailed information and pictures on how to create these beautiful pillows, along with finishing information. You can purchase these as a bundle or individually. Now, I choose different yarn and hook sizes and finished this pillow differently, but that is what I would like to share with you today. This is how you can achieve my version of The Owens Sisters Pillow and the Hocus Pocus pillow.

What is Tunisian crochet?

Tunisian crochet is considered a combination of crochet and knitting. This is because it uses a crochet hook and you hold all your stitches on the hook in the same way that you knit. This is why you need a long crochet hook which is also referred to as an Afghan hook.

Standard crochet is often worked in rows which requires you to turn your work as you work back and forth. Tunisian crochet involves a forward pass (FP) right to left and a return pass (RP) left to right and you never turn your work and the right side is always facing you. The forward and return passes are counted as one row.

Let’s Begin…

Supplies used:

• I Love this Yarn – Black #30/HL# 839332 (1 skein) purchased at Hobby Lobby
• Love this Yarn – Ivory #20/HL# 839324 (2 skein) purchased at Hobby Lobby
• I Love this Yarn – Burnt Pumpkin #154/HL# 378125 (1 skein) purchased at Hobby Lobby
• Impeccable Solid Yarn by Loops & Threads – Dark Charcoal/ #10545257 (1 skein) purchased at Michael’s
• 16×16 inch pillow insert
• Bag of poly fil for extra stuffing for your pillow insert which you can find at Joann’s.

Other supplies needed:

• 5mm standard crochet hook
• 5mm Afghan or Tunisian crochet Hook
• Clothes pins (for making bobbins)
• Stitch Markers
• Measuring Tape
• Darning needle
• Scissors

These patterns are stitched in 2 panels and then are stitched together.

The Owens Sisters Pillow

For the first panel or the front of the pillow, I followed the pattern instructions using the Tunisian simple stitch. Using your 5mm long Afghan hook. For the shoes I used Black and for the stockings I used Burnt pumpkin and Dark Charcoal. To finish off the raw sides before joining I edged the panel with a slip stitch using you 5mm regular crochet hook. This will give you a clean edge to work with when stitching your panels together. I used the main color of the first panel, which is Ivory in my case, to do this. Just place a slip stitch in every stitch you made.

*Remember you only need to do this on 2 sides only.

Now for the second panel or the back of the pillow, this is where I did something totally different. I made this panel using a Half Double Crochet stitch (HDC) in rows creating an alternating striped pattern with my 5mm regular crochet hook. To achieve this, do the following:

Begin:

Chain 65 stitches

Rows 1-10: HDC in Dark Charcoal (total of 10 rows) color change in your last stitch made

*You should have a total of 64 stitches on each row from now on.

Rows 11-20: HDC in Burnt Pumpkin (total of 10 rows) color change in your last stitch made

Rows 21-23: HDC in Ivory (total of 3 rows) color change in your last stitch made

Rows 24-27: HDC in Dark Charcoal (total of 4 rows) color change in your last stitch made

Rows 28-30: HDC in Ivory (total of 3 rows) color change in your last stitch made

Rows 31-40: HDC in Burnt Pumpkin (total of 10 rows) color change in your last stitch made

Rows 41-50: HDC in Dark Charcoal (total of 10 rows) fasten off in your last stitch and weave in any tails you may have left.

This will give you a total of 50 rows for the back panel and should be very close to the same height and width as your front panel. If not adjust your row counts accordingly. NOTE: Your front panel will have more rows than your back panel. This is because you used a much tighter stitch when you were doing the Tunisian simple stitch on the front panel vs. the half double crochet on the back panel.

Now on this panel I did not finish off the raw edges it is easy enough to count your rows when you go to join.

With your 2 panels made place them back-to-back with your finished sides on the outside facing you. Measure them so both panels are approximately the same size. It is ok if your back panel is slightly bigger then your front panel but the do need to both be the same width. Use your stitch markers on 3 sides to hold your panels together (about every 10 stitches), but before you place your markers on the last side insert your pillow insert. Then finish placing your stitch markers on the final side to hold everything together.

Border:

This is where you will see your pillow finally take shape. With everything being held together with your stitch markers, it’s time to single crochet (SC) all the way around using Ivory, make sure to evenly place your stitches in each stitch and add 3SC in each corner. Also, place a stitch marker in each corner SC. Approximately 64 stitches wide plus 1 for the corner (65) x 55 stitches high plus 1 for the corner (56).

Here comes the fun part. Change to your final border color (Burnt Pumpkin) and flip your pillow over so the back panel is facing you. You will now reverse single crochet (RSC) in the front loop only in every single stitch there is no need to add extra stitches for the corners. Fasten off and weave in any remaining ends. Now sit back and enjoy your beautiful Owens Sisters pillow.