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Sirius the Crochet Star Pillow

by | All Designs, Crochet, Free Patterns, Home, Kids & Toys, My Favorites, Summer

Where do I start? All of my projects are the result of so many different pieces of inspiration coming together, I’m not sure how to tell the story behind my Sirius Star Pillow.

This crochet Sirius Star Pillow, using fabric/t-shirt yarn is a sirius(ly) fun and easy project to whip up over a weekend! Includes free pattern.

To start, I’ve had sea creatures on the brain for a while. First the jellyfish, then the ball shark, and then a family trip to Monterey Bay Aquarium. Visions of crochet octopus and manta rays and humpback whales swim through my head all the time. There’s also starfish and sand dollars. Maybe not so much the sea cucumbers though, sorry!

Then there’s all this gorgeous We Are Knitters Fabric Yarn that I have the opportunity to work with! Fabric yarn is a lot stiffer and chunkier than acrylic yarn, so I figured I’d make something that can really keep its shape. There’s purses and bags and rugs to be made, but as usual, I wanted to do something a little different. Don’t I always?

Then came the moment of inspiration, when I was surfing Instagram and found these beautiful pillows by LadyMaryan. Everything sort of clicked into place – a star pillow, made from fabric yarn. It’ll be big because fabric yarn is chunky, and it’ll be fabulous because fabric yarn is cool to the touch, so this pillow has TWO “cool sides of the pillow”! (Cue up The Family Guy!)

Crochet star pillow

LadyMaryan provides instructions and some wonderfully hand-drawn charts to show how she makes her pillows. I translated her page in Google and I think lost quite a bit in translation, but that’s ok. When she explained that each round increases by 10 stitches, everything made sense in my head. I used that basic math to come up with my star and don’t actually follow the rest of the stitch counts she uses.

The pillow works up pretty quickly with the fabric yarn, but it is quite the workout! I took breaks to rest my wrist, and to watch TV. (Currently binging on NCIS…) I made one star using We Are Knitter Fabric Yarn in Pink, and for that star, I worked 6 rounds for the center. When I started the second star using the hot pink yarn, I realized it was thicker than the Pink skein, so in order for the stars to match in size, I only worked 5 rounds for the center and adjusted the rest of the pattern to match. Fabric yarn is made from recycled cut-offs from tshirts, so there’s differences in colors and texture and thickness are to be expected – it’s just what’s available from the warehouse. How cool that we’re reusing and repurposing though, right? So just be aware that for the pattern listed below, I followed it to a tee for one side, but worked one round less for the other side.

Crochet star pillow, with cotton batting

 

Another characteristic of fabric yarn is that unlike acrylic yarns, it’s not made from several strands twisted together. It’s really easy to find the right loops to work through, but it also means that there’s no strands to sort of expand and fill in the loose spaces between stitches. Since I was making something that needed to be stuffed, I was afraid that my stuffing would come out of all those big gaps between these big chunky stitches. To solve this problem, I cut out star shapes from some quilt batting I had laying around, layered that in between the two stars, and then added stuffing between the two layers of quilt batting. The inner layers prevent the loose stuffing from coming out. I realized afterwards that white felt would have worked even better. If you’re using dark colored yarn, dark felt may work the best for you.

Crochet Sirius Star pillow using pink fabric or t-shirt yarn.

 

So, beyond adjusting to the quirks and beauty of fabric yarn, this was a simple project! And I named it the Sirius Star Pillow because Sirius is the brightest star in the sky. And it’s easier to spell than Betelgeuse. Annnd, who can resist the “sirius(ly)” punny potential?!

Supplies

Abbreviations

Pattern Notes

  • Because of the variability of thickness in fabric yarn, you may work more or less rounds so that both sides of the star matches in size. If you’re using the same yarn for both sides, you won’t have this problem.
  • The ch 3 at the beginning of each round or row counts as a dc stitch.
  • Work the last stitch of each round into the same stitch as the ch 3. It’s the equivalent of “work 2 st into the next st”.
  • Pulling the magic circle closed might be slightly difficult, but it will close if you pull hard enough.
  • As you work the center rounds, the piece may curl like you’re making a basket. The fabric yarn is stretchy, so you can easily stretch it flat after each round.
  • Each star point is worked the same way, starting with a ch 3 as the first stitch, then worked in decreasing rows.
  • Use batting or felt in between the pillows to prevent polyfill stuffing from leaking out.
  • When you hold the two stars together, the edge shows 4 loops. The joining edge is worked through the 2 inner loops.

Crochet Sirius Star Pillow Instructions

STAR CENTER

Round 1: Start with a magic circle. Ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 9 more dc into magic circle. Join with sl st to 3rd starting ch. Pull magic circle closed.

Working a magic circle using fabric yarn.

Round 2: Ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 2 dc in next st. Continue to work 2 dc in each st around. Work 1 dc in last st (same st as beginning ch 3). Join with sl st to 3rd starting ch.

Round 3: Ch 3 (counts as first st). [Work 1 dc in next st, 2 dc in next st.] 9 times. Work 1 dc in next st, work 1 dc in last st (same st as beginning ch 3). Join with sl st to 3rd starting ch.

Round 4: Ch 3 (counts as first st). [Work 1 dc in next 2 st, 2 dc in next st.] 9 times. Work 1 dc in next 2 st, work 1 dc in last st (same st as beginning ch 3). Join with sl st to 3rd starting ch.

Round 5: Ch 3 (counts as first st). [Work 1 dc in next 3 st, 2 dc in next st.] 9 times. Work 1 dc in next 4 st, work 1 dc in last st (same st as beginning ch 3). Join with sl st to 3rd starting ch.

Round 6: Ch 3 (counts as first st). [Work 1 dc in next 4 st, 2 dc in next st.] 9 times. Work 1 dc in next 4 st, work 1 dc in last st (same st as beginning ch 3). Join with sl st to 3rd starting ch. Do not cut yarn.

FIRST POINT

Row 1: From the end of Round 5, ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 1 dc in next 11 st. Turn.

Row 2: Sl st into 2nd st from hook. Ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 1 dc in next 9 st. Turn.

Row 3: Sl st into 2nd st from hook. Ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 1 dc in next 7 st. Turn.

Row 4: Sl st into 2nd st from hook. Ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 1 dc in next 5 st. Turn.

Row 5: Sl st into 2nd st from hook. Ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 1 dc in next 3 st. Turn.

Row 6: Sl st into 2nd st from hook. Ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 1 dc in same st as ch 3. Work 1 dc next st. Cut yarn and fasten off.

SECOND (AND SUBSEQUENT) POINTS

Row 1: Work a standing sl st (shown in picture below) into the next stitch to the left of the previous point. Ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 1 dc in next 11 st. Turn.

How to crochet a standing slip stitch

Row 2: Sl st into 2nd st from hook. Ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 1 dc in next 9 st. Turn.

Row 3: Sl st into 2nd st from hook. Ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 1 dc in next 7 st. Turn.

Row 4: Sl st into 2nd st from hook. Ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 1 dc in next 5 st. Turn.

Row 5: Sl st into 2nd st from hook. Ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 1 dc in next 3 st. Turn.

Row 6: Sl st into 2nd st from hook. Ch 3 (counts as first st). Work 1 dc in same st as ch 3. Work 1 dc next st. Cut yarn and fasten off.

Weave in all ends.

BORDER

Starting at the base of any point, work 1 standing slip stitch. Work 13 sl st evenly up one side of the point. Work 3 dc. Work 13 sl st evenly down the other side of the point. Continue working [13 sl st up one side, 3 ch, 13 sl st down one side] until you finish the round. Join to first sl st. Weave in ends.

A crochet star

ASSEMBLY

Place the two stars and batting together in order: star, batting, batting, star, with the front sides of the star facing out. Starting at any stitch, work 1 standing sl st, working through the inner two loops of each stitch.

Joining two crochet star pieces together.

Work 1 sl st in each st around. Stop to stuff the pillow before joining the last point, adding the stuffing between the two layers of batting.

Adding edging to a crochet star pillow

Batting makes it easy to not lose your stuffing.

Work 1 sl st in each st of the last point, and join to first sl st. Weave in ends.

This crochet Sirius Star Pillow, using fabric/t-shirt yarn is a sirius(ly) fun and easy project to whip up over a weekend! Includes free pattern.

This was a really fun and easy project to make, even with the arm workout. I love my totally huggable pillow and really really love how cool and solid it feels when I hug it. You know, sometimes you want the squishy silky soft pillow and sometimes, you want something you can prop your head on!

Make some stars and share them with me on Facebook (One Dog Woof) or Instagram (@1dogwoof)!

I received product from We Are Knitters for this project and post. The pattern, all notes, instructions, photos and opinions are 100% my own. 

Check out my pattern shops on Etsy and Ravelry where you can purchase printable PDFs of my latest crochet patterns. These PDFs are formatted without comments or ads, and have instructional photos at the bottom for optional printing.

I sometimes include affliate links in my supply lists. Purchasing from these merchants earns me a small commission with no extra cost to you, and goes towards supporting One Dog Woof.

Please be respectful and do not sell or distribute this pattern in any way, especially as your own. Instead, share the original blog post link! You can sell finished products made from this pattern by giving credit to One Dog Woof as the pattern designer and linking to the blog post. If you have any questions regarding distribution or translation of this pattern, please see my Terms of Use. Thank you for your consideration!

 

22 Comments

  1. Amanda

    Thank you for sharing your wonderful patterns! Do you think the star pillow will turn out well using a regular yarn? What would you use in place of the Fabric yarn?
    Thanks again!!

  2. ChiWei

    Hi Amanda, I’m not sure how the star pillow will turn out using regular yarn. It’ll be smaller for sure, and probably have larger gaps in between the stitches. You could try super bulky yarn or hold a few strands together to create the bulkiness. Hope that helps!

  3. Christina

    I really like the star!!! I will start making it soon!

    Many thanks for sharing!

  4. Natasha

    So cute! It would probably be a little big for a ‘plane project,’ though, so I’ll have to wait until after Thanksgiving travels to attempt to make a starfish pillow. =)

  5. Annette

    Love your star & it would be a perfect gift for my step daughter. But my math is off and I guess Im confused about the pattern.ends up like a tear drop and not round. What am I doing wrong?

  6. dog breeds

    Thank you for sharing the tutorial!! I’m a newbie, who know how to crochet just a few days and have not finished anything ^^ I gonna make this my first project! Thank you again!!

  7. Barbara

    I made one pink star so far. It seems a bit small to me. What are the dimensions of one star from the top to the bottom? I used the right size hook (N).

  8. Ann

    Thank you! Its so great and miracle!

  9. mary

    Maravilhoso vou tentar fazer!

  10. Barbara Giameo

    Does anyone know the finished dimension?

  11. Annette Specht

    my math is off too . how many stitches are at the end of each round? doing a 4 wt ply for practice.

  12. Nathan Lu

    In the circle part of the star, it has two round 5’s Does that mean we have to keep going and use that as round 6, or just skip one of the round 5’s?

  13. Nathan Lu

    Did you use the right size yarn?

  14. ChiWei

    Ahh, thank you for pointing that out! It’s a typo, and should be Round 6. I’ve fixed and updated the post.

  15. Astara

    Thanks ,made two off them .

  16. Lourdes

    Hi! I love your pattern and I started doing it, but every time I finish the stitches of one round as it is said in the pattern I find myself with two extra stitches from previous round empty. What am I doing wrong?

  17. Jami

    What are the finished dimensions of the pillow?

  18. Siriad

    Hi, thank you for your pattern, this star is so cute !
    I’m a little bit confuse about the border : in which stitch do we have to work the 13 sl st ? Because of the “turn” made for the star point, sometimes there is no stitch (juste the DC before turning).
    Also, is it normal that we do 3 dc on the top of the first point, and then 3 ch for the 4 others ? Which one should we do ?
    Thank you again, your work is amazing 🙂

  19. Cassie

    First I want to say thank you so much for an awesome pattern! I may be doing mine wrong but I believe in round 5 after completing the 9 repeats in the row it says to “work 1 dc in the next 4 stitches and then 1 dc into same stitch as beginning stitch” but it wasn’t working out for me. Is it supposed to be 3 stitches rather than 4? Thank you for your help!

  20. Donna

    I love your Star pillow! If using the fabric yarn – how many yards do I need?

  21. ChiWei

    Unfortunately We Are Knitters didn’t list a yardage. It’s considered a Jumbo weight (0-4 wraps per inch), and each ball was 400 g, so you would need 1600 g.

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