Embroidered Pug Pillow

Let's begin this blog post by stating that this project was born out of procrastination. I almost never make things for myself or the house. But that is starting to change. Semi-Final walkthrough of the house is today (yay!), and all I can think about is making that house home. So when I saw this wonderful free pattern that Jenny Hart posted, I knew I had to make it.
To start, I realized, hey wait! I have two pugs. I want these pillows to be more personal. And I can draw a little. So I drew my own pattern. (Following someone else's patterns always feels like cheating to me. I'm a spaz that way.) Of course, I've never drawn for an embroidery pattern, so this was mostly winging it.

Then came the stitching. I did this mostly while watching Gilmore Girls (again), with a little old News Radio thrown in for good measure. (I remember that show being funnier. Oh well.) Stitching up Buster took about 5 hours. You may have seen this blurry late night image already:

Once the stitching was done, I cut a piece of faux fur to size and stitched up the pillow. Then I stuffed it with polyfill. (Have I mentioned I live waaaay out in the country and didn't want to spend two hours running to the nearest fabric store so I was determined to do this with only the supplies on hand? No? Well, okay then.)
This brings us to the finished project photos! Hooray!

Most awesome pillow on world's ugliest couch? Check!

The faux fur backside.

Buster, your name will be up in lights! Er, embroidery floss!

He-Who-Does-Not-Photograph-Easily with his very own pillow.

Up next: Topanga's pillow!