Scissor Fob and Pillow tutorial

I particularly enjoyed stitching these beaded scissor fobs and little pillow so I decided to put together a scissor fob and pillow tutorial.

The original pattern is the Summer Strawberry mini cat pattern as seen below but I decided to design another similar pattern. The Strawberry Summer Pillow and Scissor Fob pattern is now available in my Etsy shop

EDITED: I HAVE NOW ADDED A BISCORNU PATTERN TO THIS COLLECTION. Now available in my etsy shop. You can read about it in this post here.

You can download the mini cat pillow from this previous post here

Scissor Fob and Pillow Tutorial

Materials required:

Polyester fibrefill

Mill Hill beads

Beading needle or fine needle

Lightweight iron on interfacing

Please note: The instructions are the same for the pillow and the scissor fobs until we get to the hanging cord.

See more photos at the bottom of this post before starting the scissor fob.

Apply the interfacing

Apply iron on interfacing to the reverse side of your stitching.

Backstitching and exact counting

Stitch lines of backstitching around the edge of your stitching by counting the threads from the edge of the design, they must match perfectly.

Count the number of threads so that you have the exact number of back stitches on all sides.

Ensure you zig zag close to the back stitched line and trim close to the zig zag stitching.

Do not miss this step otherwise, your fabric will fray and cause you problems when you try to stitch it together.

These stitches must match perfectly because they are used to stitch the pillow and scissor fob together using the beads.

Match the front to the back of the pillow

Take the front and back of the pillow/scissor fob and match the sides perfectly ensuring the back stitches match.

For example, if you have 60 stitches on one side then you must have exactly 60 stitches on the other side.

Fold a piece of stitching thread in half.

Insert the needle through one backstitch on one side and another backstitch on the opposite to do a loop start, stitch through both stitches.

Adding the beads

Adding the beads as you stitch.

Stitch the first stitch then add a bead and anchor it into the next stitch.

“Thread a bead onto the needle and then anchor the bead in the next stitch” I say this to myself as I stitch! Lol….

The anchor stitch is shown here

Here you see the bead anchored to the next stitch, put the needle through the next stitch, and then add a bead and anchor it again.

Effectively missing a bead and then stitching a bead.

You may not have enough thread to stitch all around your pillow, you can stop and start your stitching as shown in the photo below.

Just finish inside the pillow by overstitching a couple of your stitches to cast off and then do a loop start again.

Leave a corner open to fill with polyester fibrefill using a chop stitch to push into the corners being careful not to push too hard.

This part can be fiddly to do but just hold the open ends close together and continue stitching the beads.

When you finish adding the beads push your needle in and out of the pillow along the seams to hide your finishing stitches and cut close to the last stitch.

Scissor Fob

Find the centre of the scissor fob at the top, count an even number of back stitches away from the centre, I usually count two or three.

This allows you to leave enough space for the cord. Start stitching the beads as shown for the pillow tutorial.

Stitch all around the edge until you return to the top, leave a gap to insert the cord.

Ensure you remember to fill with fibrefill as you did in the pillow.

Use purchased cord or make it yourself, I used the DMC thread that I used to stitch my project.

I have a cord tutorial on my cross stitch finishing blog here, scroll down the page and you will see how to make your own cord.

Tie a knot in each end of your cord, push that into the seams.

Stitch together through the back stitches adding beads in the same way as the pillow instructions.

Stitch through the back stitches from the front to the back a couple of times and then clip close to the stitching.

There you have it! How to stitch a beaded pillow and scissor fob.

I do have a biscornu pattern to match this set but I have not quite finished the stitching, that will be available soon.

Until next time, happy stitching!

Lynn