I love bandanas. They can be used for so many different things; tie them around your head for a trendy boho look, sew them together to make a lovely play tent for the kids or you can make this easy no sew bandana heart pillow.
It’s the perfect size for a scatter cushion, or you can use it to cuddle up with in a homemade hammock. I was originally going to use a gorgeous quilting fabric to make the no-sew heart, but I used it all to make the primitive bed spring hearts. So a bandana was my next choice, and I’m glad. I love the way the pillow looks. And apparently so does Merlin.
Right, before we get to the tutorial, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!
How to Make a No-Sew Bandana Heart
This one is really easy, I promise. Just grab two bandanas and your pinking shears.
Place the bandanas on top of each other, wrong side facing inwards, fold the bandanas in half, and cut out a half heart shape.
Fold the hearts open, keeping the two bandana hearts on top of each other. Use pinking shears to cut a fringe or strips around the heart-shaped bandanas.
The fringe pieces should be at least 6.5 cm long and 2.5 cm wide (2.5″ x 1″). Anything shorter than 6.5 cm long will be difficult to weave, and if the fringe is too long, your pillow will be a bit small.
Fold the fringe over and make a small slit on the fold. You’ll use the slit to “weave” the edges of the pillow, so the smaller, the better.
Turn the fringe strips up and squish them together ………
……and then pull them down, through the slit.
Tug tightly and repeat.
(Post update: I had so many beautiful comments on the bandana heart – thank you, but it seems the pics on how to weave the fringe aren’t descriptive enough so here’s a video that might help.)
Continue weaving the fringe and periodically flip your heart over to make sure you haven’t missed any lonely little fringe pieces – you’ll end up with a wonky no-sew pillow heart if you do 😀 Leave the last five fringe pieces and stuff the heart firmly. Finish off the pillow by weaving the last few pieces. It’s that easy.
Time to find your favorite snuggle cat and cuddle up with your bandana heart pillow. Love our Merlin to bits and he’s so spoilt.
When life is hard, #snuggle with a #purrbaby
A no sew pillow makes the perfect Valentine’s gift that can be used throughout the year 😉
If you like the idea of the bandana heart, don’t forget to pin it for later so you can make your own.
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I’d love to know what you think of the pillow. If you’d like to make one and don’t want to go to all that trouble of finding the materials, I’ve got you covered 😉 Disclosure: If you click on the links below, we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us feed our fur babies 😉
And as always, I hope you have a beautiful, love-filled week. Thank you for popping in for a visit.
Last update on 2026-09-30 / Source Amazon Affiliates
60 comments
This is such a cute, quick, easy project. I am going to give it a try. I just can’t get enough of the photos of Merlin!!! He is so sweet! He doesn’t appear to be spoiled….too much!!! lol
😀 Our Merlin is one of the biggest cuddlers in our family of fur babies. He kinda sneaked into the family a few years back when our puppy got cat flu. Merlin would sneak into Zia’s cage at the vet and cuddle up to her. So we just had to bring him home with us. He deserves to be spoilt every day 😀
Very, very cute. But I couldn’t figure it out from the pics, and I couldn’t get the video to pull up.
🙁 I really want to do this project.
Rebekah
Sorry about that Rebekah. Can you try again?
Like your project. I followed the instructions and made one with felt. Can you share if the cut/edge of Bandana will fray from cutting? Thank you.
Bandanas do fray after a while yes. You can put no fray on the cuts to stop or slow it down and hand washing the pillows help too.
This is my type of craft related to fabric -no sew. I have a special relationship with my sewing machine… let’s say love-hate. But I can do this for sure! The cat seems to love it too
Oh I know what you mean Pili. When it works it’s lovely, but man when that machine’s settings go all wobbly I want to cry.
This is such a great idea!!! I have so many bandanas, and I have no idea what to do with them, so thanks for sharing this clever and cute idea at the Valentine’s Link Party!!!
Thank you for a lovely party T’onna, I’m really enjoying all the wonderful Valentine’s creations
Its looks awesome but it looks to me like the edges are sewn
Thank you anon and I promise they haven’t been sewn. I think using the pinking shears might create that impression but it also stops the edges from unravelling. Not sure if that’s the right word though
The bandanas have a hem already on them . If that’s what you are looking at.
This is so cute and how cool that it is no sew, I’m always so lazy to get that sewing machine out! Love your cat!
Me too Katrin 😉 it seems like such a hassle somethings, especially when it’s stuck in a cupboard because you don’t have the space for it your craft room