Tooth Fairy Pillow

Last year I found a freebie chart from Kreinik for a Holographic Star Bookmark.  I liked this chart a lot but was kind of overwhelmed at the thought of using all metallic threads.  And as soon as I saw it, an idea popped into my head for this cute star:  a tooth fairy pillow.  One for a sweet little boy I know.

Right away I knew that I wanted a pretty deep blue fabric and after a lot of looking I found just that at Under The Sea Fabrics.  Leslie worked with me and suggested her "Witching Hour" fabric, which is a beautiful mottled dark blue.  Then I decided that the star needed to be a bright yellow and that the chart would have some metallic accents.  This was accomplished with DMC variegated yellow and some gold and silver metallic braid. 

As I used the metallic braid, I found that I had nothing to fear!  A Facebook cross stitch friend suggested that I tie a knot in the eye of the needle to prevent the braid from slipping and weakening.  I also resisted the temptation to use a really long length of thread.  Because that's what I do with floss.  All of this knowledge makes me want to stitch this star exactly as it's shown on the Kreinik website!

Now comes the back.  I chose a bright yellow patterned fabric and then some blue felt to make the all-important pocket.  I surprised myself again while attaching the pocket to the back.  I had originally intended to blanket stitch around the pocket with the variegated floss.  But as I sat at my sewing machine, some of the "fancy stitches" caught my eye.  Had I ever used these?  No.  And just why not?  It was time to break out of my straight stitch and zig-zag stitch comfort zone!  My sewing thread stash yielded a spool in a nice yellow color for this contrasting stitching.

And there you have it - a nice big pocket for a teeny-tiny tooth!  Also, plenty of room for the tooth fairy to add some dollars.  Or cents?  Just how much is a little tooth going for these days?