Practice simple embroidery stitches while creating a boho stitch sampler in an abstract, modernist style. Use a Cricut Maker with a free cut file to mark and cut this faux hoop art pillow. It makes a great decoration or quick gift, too.

This post contains affiliate links. I may receive compensation (at no added cost to you) if you make a purchase using these links. This post is sponsored by Cricut, but all opinions and thoughts are my own. My sewing machine sponsor is Baby Lock. Additional materials for this post were generously provided by Fairfield World and Taunton Press.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

Ever since I got a Cricut Maker last year, I have been on a little bit of a sewing spree. As I’ve mentioned in my previous posts about the Cricut Maker Rotary Blade (here and here), the Maker has been my dream machine. I love the ease of cutting fabric (even into complicated shapes like an adorable bear softie) without a stabilizer with materials that are included in the Maker box (that is, the Rotary Blade and the FabricGrip Mat). Using the Washable Fabric Pen makes it easy to mark up your fabric with sewing lines for attaching pieces, or to create embroidery lines.

Since adding the Maker to their machine line up, Cricut has really stepped up their game by offering lots of projects for sewists in Cricut Design Space. Like, seriously, hundreds. They’ve also started carrying fabric in their online shop, including designer samplers, genuine leather (in addition to faux leather), quilt panels (in case the patchwork part of quilting isn’t so much your thing), felt, and even pre-cut fabric (if you want to jump right into sewing with less cutting).

And, of course, once you start carrying fabric and catering to sewists, you need to add tools, right? For this project, I used the Cricut Sewing Kit, which includes a set of fabric shears, thread snips (which are perfect for embroidery, too), seam ripper, thimble, measuring tape (because I know personally I can never have enough of these!), and pins with a pin cushion. If the Cricut has inspired you to do quilting, you may also want to consider the Rotary Cutting Kit.

Let me back it up a bit to tell you more about today’s project. A while back, Taunton sent me a review copy of Boho Embroidery: Modern Projects from Traditional Stitches by Nichole Vogelsinger. I have always loved hand embroidery since childhood, but I never really had the patience for the detailed projects that were popular then. Once I got old enough to have the patience, my eyesight wasn’t good enough for the detailed work that complex embroidery projects required. Boho Embroidery inspired me to take more of a freeform approach to embroidery, and that’s where I got the idea for this sampler pillow. I don’t have lots of wall space, so while hoop art is, in theory, awesome, there’s no real place to hang it in my apartment. A pillow seemed more practical so I decided to make a faux hoop using my Cricut Maker! I didn’t have to worry about making drawing a perfect hoop circle because the Cricut can do that for me.

My sampler is very simple. I used the Washable Fabric Pen to make the circle for the hoop outline and then I freeformed a variety of stitches (which are labeled below). If you’d like to have a more structured sampler, you can add more embroidery lines with the Washable Fabric Pen to your cut file by choosing Customize before you cut.

Boho Stitch Sampler Pillow

Cricut Maker Tutorial by Underground Crafter

I created a simple, pieced pillow using fabric from a Cricut Riley Blake quilt kit. The centerpiece of the pillow is a faux hoop art circle featuring an abstract, modernist embroidery sampler.

Finished Size

• Approximately 7” (18 cm) before stuffing.

Tools

• Cricut Maker with Cricut Design Space,
• EasyPress 2 with EasyPress Mat, or iron with other heat-safe surface,
• Cricut Rotary Blade and FabricGrip Mat,
• Fabric shears, thread snips, pins, and thimble from Cricut Sewing Kit,
• Cricut Washable Fabric Pen,
• 4” embroidery hoop (I used the one from this Loops & Threads Hoop Set),
• Embroidery needle and hand sewing needle,
• Sewing machine (I used my Baby Lock Jubilant), and
• Cricut BrightPad (optional).

Materials

• Boho Stitch Sampler Pillow cut file in Design Space,
• Fairfield World Poly-Fil stuffing (about 3 ounces),
• Fabric in three colors (I used pieces from Cricut’s Riley Blake quilt kit),
• Thread, and
• Three to six colors of embroidery floss.

Instructions

Mark and Cut Your Fabric

• Press your fabric with your EasyPress 2 with EasyPress Mat, or iron with other heat-safe surface.
• Open the Boho Stitch Sampler cut file in Design Space.
• Select Customize to add additional embroidery lines if desired. Click on Make It to start your project. Place the fabric on the mat, install the Washable Fabric Pen, and then follow the instructions for cutting.
• Remove your fabric from the mat. Use the fabric shears to cut away the unused fabric to save for a future project.

Create Your Embroidery Sampler

• Place your marked piece of fabric into the embroidery hoop, using the circle as a guide for the hoop.

• If you’re using your Cricut BrightPad, plug it in and turn it on. Adjust the illumination level based on your embroidery floss and fabric colors, and the ambient lighting in your room.
• Create your sampler using your chosen colors of embroidery floss and your favorite embroidery stitches. Use your thimble if necessary and trim threads after knotting on back with the thread snips.

• I used Boho Embroidery: Modern Projects from Traditional Stitches by Nichole Vogelsinger to remind me how to make each stitch. Nichole also has a Bluprint video class called Boho Style: Mixed-Media Embroidery. I’ve also included links to free tutorials for each stitch I used (indicated in the picture below).
  • You can find video tutorials for the back stitch, running stitch, straight stitch, and cross stitch at the end of the pattern for the Fiducia Clutch.  
  • Shiny Happy World has a video tutorial for the satin stitch here.
  • Threads has a video tutorial for the couching stitch here.

• After you finish doing the sampler stitches inside of the hoop, remove your fabric from the hoop and use your EasyPress 2 or iron to press it flat. Then work the back stitch around the marked circle to create your faux hoop.

Assemble the Pillow

• Once your sampler piece is completed, trim down the fabric with your hoop art to measure 5” (13 cm) square, with the faux hoop centered in the middle.
• Pin the short fabric rectangles to the sides of this square.

• Sew the rectangles in place using a 1/4″ seam.

• With your EasyPress 2 or iron, press the seams towards the darker fabric.

• Pin the longer rectangles to the sides of the fabric piece.
• Sew the rectangles in place using a 1/4″ seam.

• With your EasyPress 2 or iron, press the seams towards the darker fabric.

• Position the square piece of fabric on top of the seamed piece of fabric with the right sides facing.

• Sew both pieces together using a 1/2″ seam and leaving approximately 3” (7.5 cm) open.
• With your fabric shears, cut the triangle out on each seamed corner as shown in the picture.

• Pull the right side of the pillow out through the 3” (7.5 cm) opening.

• Stuff firmly with Poly-Fil.

• With thread and needle, fold over the seams of the opening and hand sew closed.

Enjoy your pillow!

The Boho Stitch Sampler Pillow is also featured on AllFreeSewing.com. Sign up for their free newsletter to get free patterns sent to you daily!