Things that are six sided: snow crystals, the cells of a honeycomb, the Tam Tam (a six-sided matzo cracker) and this delightful star-shaped pillow. Completely proving 1) not all pillows need to be square, and 2) you’ll need to get a magnifying glass or microscope to make sure I’m telling the truth about the snow crystals and honeycombs.

We offer a downloadable pattern below, and at the risk of implying we’re improving on Mother Nature, we did add a slight curve to the precise straight edges of a traditional hexagon. This small adjustment emphasizes the pillow’s star shape and creates sharper points for the tasseled ends.

You can use several techniques from our library of step-by-step Sew4Home tutorials to help create this project, including making tassels and covered buttons.

We made this pillow once before as one of the very first projects on Sew4Home in Heather Bailey’s delightful Pop Garden & Bijoux collection. We were excited to be able to update and refine the pattern and instructions, and just as excited to use fabric from another  Heather Bailey collection: Clementine.

Hexagon pillow using Pop Garden & Bijou

The pillow finishes at approximately 19″ in diameter (corner point to corner point).

Sewing Tools You Need

• Sewing machine and standard presser foot

Fabric and Other Supplies

NOTE: We choose two coordinating fabrics for our pillow. However, the pillow is made from twelve individual triangles, six for the top and six for the bottom, so you could use scrap fabric cuts and create a kaleidoscope of up to twelve different fabrics.

• ¾ yard of 44″+ wide fabric for the first 6 of 12 triangle pillow panels
• ¾ yard of 44″+ wide fabric for the second 6 of 12 triangle pillow panels
• ¾ yard of 45″ wide fusible fleece; we used Pellon Thermolam Plus
• Button covering kit (1″ – 1½”) to complete two buttons; we used a Dritz Cover Button Kit
• All purpose thread to match fabric
• Button or carpet thread to stitch buttons in place
• ONE large bag of polyester fiberfil; we used Poly-fil® Premium Fiber Fill
• Six large tassels in a coordinating color: we made our own out of six skeins of green embroidery floss
• See-through ruler
• Seam gauge
• Seam ripper
• Fabric pencil
• Iron and ironing board
• Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
• Straight pins
• Hand sewing needle
• 4″ – 6″ doll maker’s or upholstery needle to stitch buttons in place; optional

Getting Started and Pattern Download

1. Download and print the Hexagon Pillow Section pattern.
   IMPORTANT: This pattern is ONE 8½” x 11″ sheet. You must print the PDF file at 100%. DO NOT SCALE to fit the page. There is a guide line on the page so you can confirm your final printout is to scale.
2. Cut out the pattern along the solid line.
3. From the first fabric (Dandybloom in Pink in our sample), place the pattern on the fold each time to cut six pieces.
   
4. From the second fabric (Primrose in Turquoise in our sample), place the pattern on the fold each time to cut six pieces.
   NOTE: If you’d rather not cut on the fold each time or if you’d like a precise fussy cut, you can print TWO copies of the pattern. Flip one over then butt together the two pattern pieces along the fold line to make one complete triangle pattern.

At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board

Create the hexagons

1. Break the triangles into two sets of three for the front and two sets of three for the back. Each set should have two pieces of one fabric and one piece of another. In our sample this meant: Primrose-Dandybloom-Primrose and Dandybloom-Primrose-Dandybloom.
   NOTE: The straight sides of the triangles are the inner edges that will be seamed together to make the hexagon. The curved side of the triangle is the outer edge. 
2. Starting with the Primrose-Dandybloom-Primrose set, place one Primrose and the Dandybloom right sides together along one inner straight edge. Pin in place.
   
3. Stitch together, using a ½” seam allowance.
4. Press open the seam allowance.
   
5. Place the remaining Primrose triangle right sides together along the remaining inner straight raw edge of the sewn Dandybloom triangle. Pin in place.
   NOTE: The end points of the your triangles will overlap. This is correct and will allow all six mid-points to come together into one perfect center.
   
6. Stitch together, using a ½” seam allowance, to create one half of the hexagon.
7. Repeat with the Dandybloom-Primrose-Dandybloom set to create the opposite half of the hexagon.
8. Place the two halves together along the straight center edges. Pin together. Once again, those triangle points will overlap.
   
9. Press the completed hexagon top. See how nicely all your points came together in the center?!
   
10. Repeat these steps with the remaining two sets of three to create the hexagon back.

Fusing and stuffing

1. Place the pillow top on the fusible fleece and cut along the entire perimeter so the interfacing is flush with the fabric.
   
2. Repeat to cut fusible fleece to fit the pillow back.
3. Following manufacturer’s instructions, fuse the fleece to the wrong side of the top and back. This layer of fleece adds stability to the lightweight quilting cotton and hides all the seams so the stuffed pillow has a smooth, even finish.
   
4. With right sides together, pin the front hexagon to the back hexagon. Match up the sides of the triangles top to bottom and align like fabrics. Leave a 5″ – 6″ opening along one triangle for turning.
5. Using a ½” seam allowance, stitch around the outer edge, following the slight curve of each triangle’s end. Remember to pivot at the corner points and to lock your seam at either side of the 5″ – 6″ opening.
   
6. After stitching, trim back the seam allowance at all six points so you’ll get a nice, sharp point when turned right side out. Be careful to NOT clip through your stitching.
   
7. Turn the pillow right side out through the 5″ x 6″ opening. Press well.
   
8. Stuff the pillow with polyester fiber fill to an adequate thickness. Use plenty of filler so the pretty curves and points of the pillow are defined, but don’t overfill so the pillow becomes rock hard.
   NOTE: For more information, see our tutorial on Pillow Stuffing Tips & Tricks. 
9. Fold in the raw edges of the seam allowance at the 5″ – 6″ opening so they are flush with the sewn seam. Pin closed, then slip stitch closed with tiny stitches so there’s no chance of any filler poking through the seam.
   

Buttons and tassels

1. Fussy cut two circles from the scraps of one of the fabrics; we used the Primrose in Turquoise, centering a small flower.
   
2. Make two covered buttons per pillow, using a Cover Button Kit and following manufacturer’s directions.
   
3. If you are new to working with covered buttons, you can also review our step-by-step tutorial. It includes helpful tips on how to pad the buttons for the most professional look.
4. Using a long needle (either a 4″ – 6″ doll maker’s needle or upholstery needle) threaded with button or carpet thread, sew a few stitches through the center of the pillow.
   
5. Pull these stitches very tight and knot off with several knots. This will pull the center of the pillow in and allow your covered buttons to sink into the center.
6. With the indent made, re-thread to stitch a covered button to the center of each side of the pillow.
   
7. If you’ve decided to make your own tassels, make six now. For easy step-by-step instructions, see our tassel making tutorial. You can also use purchased tassels if you can find them in the appropriate coordinating color.
8. Hand stitch a tassel to each point of the pillow. We used thread to match the color of the tassel so we could not only stitch into the fabric point of the pillow, but could also wrap the top of the tassel for extra security.