I was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer, May of 2017. I had a mastectomy and went through intensive chemotherapy for 16 weeks, and then 6 weeks of radiation, 5 days a week. Chemo can be debilitating, with nausea and exhaustion. Normal life is pretty much halted, not just for the chemo patient, but also for the caregiver, in this case my sweet husband. To help keep my spirits up during this time and keep my mind off of ‘me’ I realized I needed to find a positive purpose that I could engage myself with my limited stamina. I knew I could make heart pillows in my home like the one a friend, who was my visiting teacher at the time, gave me before my surgery. This little pillow provided the much welcomed comfort during my healing as well as protection from the seat-belt that went across my chest while the sutures healed and where the chemo port was implanted. I realized there were other women going through the same thing I went through and would appreciate a pillow like this.
I’ve attached the pattern for the heart. It is only half of the heart because I can’t fit the full heart on an 8×10 sheet of paper for print. The best thing to do is to make a paper pattern from this print by setting the center line of this half heart on the fold of a piece of tissue paper or butcher paper. Once it is cut, not cutting the fold, when you unfold the pattern you will have a complete heart. You will place the full heart on the fleece to cut it out. It is important when the heart is cut from fleece that the fleece is doubled so that both sides of the heart are cut the same. If each side is cut separately from a single thickness, then the two sides won’t match up well. I hope this makes sense.
The hearts are sewn together with a ¼ inch seam. The pattern shows the sew line. Do not turn the heart inside out once it is sewn. The seam/salvage should remain out. A gap in the stitching should be left large enough for the pillow to be stuffed with poly-fill (for pillows). It is important that the pillows are NOT stuffed to firmly, otherwise it is difficult to stitch the remainder of the heart to close it. Also, if stuffed to firmly creates a pillow that isn’t as comfortable when placed under the arm. But it should have enough stuffing for it to provide cushion and comfort.
I’ve also attached a picture of a completed heart pillow so you can see what it looks like.
On average I can get about 35 pillows cut from 3 yards of fleece. I can usually stuff about 20 to 25 pillows with one bag of poly-fill.
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