Present Pillows

The Present pillows are quirky crochet cushions that look like a thoughtful gift wrapped with love. The bow absolutely steals the show, being both luscious and colourful! Give any pillow a makeover with this pattern, as the measurement instructions work for every size.

Crochet hook

4.0mm hook (US size G/6).

Measurements

Rectangular pillow cover fits a 30 x 50cm (12 x 20in) pillow.

Square pillow cover fits a 40 x 40cm (16 x 16in) pillow.

Gauge/tension

20 sts x 22 rows measure 10 x 10cm (4x4in) with a 4.0mm hook for Stonewashed.

Note that moss stitch gauge can vary heavily depending on your personal tension. I suggest measuring the cover piece after eight rows to see how your gauge works out, and adjust the starting chain if necessary.

Rectangular pillow

With Colour A, ch66.

Row 1 (RS) Starting in second ch from hook, 65sc, ch1, turn. [65 sc]

Row 2 (WS) 1sc in first sc, *ch1, skip next sc, 1sc; repeat from * until last sc, 1sc, ch1, turn.

Row 3 1sc in first sc, *1sc in ch-sp, ch1, skip next sc; repeat from * until last 2 sc, 2sc, ch1, turn.

Rows 2-3 form the pattern repeat.

Rows 4-8 Repeat Rows 2-3 another 2 times, and then Row 2 once more for a total of eight rows in Colour A. Omit the last ch1 in your last row, and cut yarn.

Check the width of the piece after eight rows. The moss stitch tends to shrink. It can be stretched quite easily in length, but less so in width. So make sure that after eight rows, your cover measures approximately 2cm (¾in) narrower than the pillow. If it’s not the right size, add or remove multiples of 2 to the beginning chain to adjust the width.

Rows 9-16 Join Colour B with a ss in the first sc. Make eight rows in Row 2-3 pattern repeat, omit the last ch1 in your last row, and cut yarn.

Keep alternating Colours A and B every eight rows. Repeat the pattern as set for Rows 2-3 until the piece measures approximately 2cm (¾in) smaller than the pillow. Fasten off any yarn tails.

Square Pillow

With Colour A, ch84.

Row 1 (RS) Starting in second ch from hook, 83sc, ch1, turn. [83 sc]

Row 2 (WS) 1sc in first sc, *ch1, skip next sc, 1sc; repeat from * until last sc, 1sc, ch1, turn.

Row 3 1sc in first sc, *1sc in ch-sp, ch1, skip next sc; repeat from * until last 2 sc, 2sc, ch1, turn.

Rows 2-3 form the pattern repeat.

Rows 4-8 Repeat Rows 2-3 another 2 times, and then Row 2 once more for eight rows in Colour A in total. Omit the last ch1 in your last row, and cut yarn.

Again, check the piece's width after eight rows.

Rows 9-16 Join Colour B with a ss in the first sc. Make eight rows in Row 2-3 pattern repeat, ending with Row 2.

Keep alternating Colours A and B every eight rows. Repeat the pattern as set for Rows 2-3 until the piece measures approximately 2cm (¾in) smaller than the pillow. Fasten off any yarn tails.

Gift Wrap

The gift wrap is made with Colour C and D. For one pillow, use Colour C as the main colour and Colour D as contrast, and for the other pillow, do the opposite. Fasten off the tails of the Contrast Colour after you’ve finished a piece. I used the Main Colour tails to assemble the bow and/or sew the pieces onto the pillow.

I found it easiest to first sew the moss stitch body onto the pillow, then crochet the ribbons. This is because the ribbons stretch. For example, I made mine ~33cm (13in) for the 40cm (16in) cover and stretched them to size when finally sewing them on. So measure them repeatedly against your pillow.

Ribbon (make 2 to pillow size)

With Main Colour, ch9.

Row 1 (RS) Starting in second ch from hook, 8sc, ch1, turn. [8 sc]

Row 2 (WS) 8sc, ch1, turn.

Repeat Row 2 until you reach the desired length. For me, that was after 68 rows. Omit last ch1 and cut yarn.

Contrast row (RS) Join Contrast Colour with a ss in the side of the last stitch of the ribbon. Work 1sc in every row-end over the long side of the ribbon. Cut yarn. Repeat this for the other side of the ribbon. Weave in contrast yarn tails.

Bow

With Main Colour, ch9.

Row 1 (RS) Starting in second ch from hook, 8sc, ch1, turn. [8 sc]

Row 2 (WS) 8sc, ch1, turn.

Row 3 Repeat Row 2.

Row 4 2sc in first sc, 6sc, 2sc in last sc, ch1, turn. [10 sc]

Rows 5-7 10sc, ch1, turn.

Row 8 2sc in first sc, 8sc, 2sc in last sc, ch1, turn. [12 sc]

Rows 9-19 12sc, ch1, turn.

Row 20 1sc2tog, 8sc, 1sc2tog, ch1, turn. [10 sc]

Rows 21-23 10sc, ch1, turn.

Row 24 1sc2tog, 6sc, 1sc2tog, ch1, turn. [8 sc]

Rows 25-27 8sc, ch1, turn.

Rows 28-54 Repeat Row 1-27, omitting the last ch1 in Row 27. Cut yarn.

Contrast row (RS) Join Contrast Colour with a ss in the side of the last stitch of the bow. Work 1sc in every row-end over the long side of the bow, cut yarn. Repeat this for the other long side of the bow. Weave in contrast tails.

Bow ends (make 2)

With Main Colour, ch9.

Row 1 (RS) Starting in second ch from hook, 8sc, ch1, turn. [8 sc]

Row 2 (WS) 8sc, ch1, turn.

Rows 3-14 Repeat Row 2.

Row 15 6sc, 1sc2tog, ch1, turn. [7 sc]

Row 16 1sc2tog, 5sc, ch1, turn. [6 sc]

Row 17 4sc, 1sc2tog, ch1, turn. [5 sc]

Row 18 1sc2tog, 3sc, ch1, turn. [4 sc]

Row 19 2sc, 1sc2tog, ch1, turn. [3 sc]

Row 20 1sc2tog, 1sc, ch1, turn. [2 sc]

Row 21 1sc2tog, cut yarn. [1 sc]

Contrast row (RS) Join Contrast Colour with a ss in the side of the first stitch of the bow end. Make 1sc in every row-end to the tip of the end. Cut yarn. Repeat for the other side of the bow end. Make sure not to crochet in the diagonal end of the ribbon to make it look like the ribbon’s been cut off. Weave in contrast yarn tails.

When making the contrast row for your second bow end, do this on the WS (mirrored) side of the piece. This way, when you sew the ends to the bow, they’ll be mirrored with the RS of the contrast row facing you for both ends.

Bow tie

With Main Colour, ch8.

Row 1 (RS) Starting in second ch from hook, 7sc, ch1, turn. [7 sc]

Row 2 (WS) 7sc, ch1, turn.

Rows 3-16 Repeat Row 2.

Row 17 7sc, cut yarn.

Contrast row (RS) Join Contrast Colour in side of the first stitch of the tie. Make 1sc in each row-end to the end of the bow tie. Cut yarn. Repeat on the other side of the tie.

Using the tie’s starting or ending tail, sew the short ends together to form a tube. Weave in any remaining yarn tails for this piece.

Assembly

Bow

Take your bow tie and slide it over the bow to cover your seam. It should fit snugly, giving the bow a nice little scrunch. Next, take your bow ends. Make sure the diagonal ends are mirrored. Scrunch them up a little bit at the top where they meet the bow and sew them to the back, making sure that the points flair outwards a bit. Weave in all yarn tails.

Cover

Pin the cover to the pillow. Then, using a matching sewing thread and small stitches, sew the cover on the casing.

Next, sew on the ribbons. For the rectangular pillow, I sewed the ribbon ends on at approximately one third of each side, using the main colour tails to fasten them to the crochet sides of the cover. For the square pillow, I sewed them on in the middle of each side.

Finally, take your bow and sew the backside of the bow to the intersection of the ribbons. I sewed through the ribbons into the crochet cover for extra security. Weave in any remaining yarn tails.

Diagram