Christmas Crochet Pattern – Trim the Tree Pillow

Deck your halls with this Christmas crochet pattern! Just like a real tree, this festive holiday pillow is a blank canvas for your decorations. Trim the tree with buttons, pom poms, embroidery or whatever else you like for a one of a kind design!

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Scrappy Stitchers Stash Bash Crochet Along

This Christmas crochet pillow pattern is the November design for the 2020 Stash Bash Crochet Along. Each month, I will post a new, stash-busting pattern, and a giveaway prize too! See the giveaway details below, and join in the fun on the Scrappy Stitchers Facebook group. Remember to use the hashtag #ScrappyStitchersStashBash in your social media posts!

Trim the Tree

Decorating the tree is the most fun part of making this pillow. It’s a blank slate for your creativity. Decorate it any way you like! When selecting your decorations, keep in mind that your choices may affect your ability to wash the pillow later.

Years ago, my aunt and uncle gave me these adorable pin cushions. Among all the other attached findings were packets of star shaped sequins that were perfect for my tree!

I embroidered a garland with some sparkly, Lion Brand Bon Bons yarn, and then added the sequins. I first marked the “peaks” and “valleys” with pins, and loosely strung the yarn across them to make sure I liked the placement. Then, using the pins as a guide, I sewed the garland with small back stitches.

Intarsia Crochet Colorwork

Intarsia colorwork uses a separate ball of yarn for each section of color. I demoed this technique in my October 8th Lunchtime Live video. Since the unused yarns are not being carried through the stitches, this method avoids the “bleed through” you can sometimes get with other colorwork techniques.

Yarn Bobbins from We Crochet

Working with multiple balls of yarn can present a challenge of its own. Through most of the tree portion, you will have 5 balls of yarn attached at one time. Unruly balls or skeins easily tangle, creating tension issues and a lot of wasted time untangling.

To tame the tangles, I use these handy Knit Picks yarn bobbins. My mom got them for me years ago, and they’ve come in handy every time I do multiple strand projects. When closed, they prevent the yarn from unravelling. This means you can leave them attached closely to your fabric, and they won’t tangle with each other or other yarns!

Knit Picks is the same company that owns We Crochet, and you can buy these bobbins on either site. The Knit Picks site also has them in an Intarsia Kit, together with tapestry needles and a chart keeper!

I showed the yarn bobbins in this Lunchtime Live video. Here’s an excerpt of just that section, so you can see how they work!

Watch the whole video on YouTube

Enter the giveaway

We Crochet is providing a fantastic prize package for our giveaway this month! One lucky winner will get a set of these bobbins in each of the three sizes, AND a copy of the new WeCrochet Magazine (Issue #5). That’s 4 large bobbins, 6 medium bobbins, and 6 small bobbins, plus the magazine! Wow!

To be eligible, you must be 18 years of age or older, with a valid, US shipping address. The winner will be contacted by email, and must reply to that email and provide their shipping address within 1 week in order to receive the prize. If the winner does not reply within 1 week, a new winner will be selected. The giveaway ends on December 9th, 2020 (at 11:59pm, central time). Hurry and enter below!

This giveaway is powered by Rafflecopter, and they may ask for some log-in information if you are not already logged in. See the Rafflecopter privacy policy for more information. 

Trim the Tree Pillow

Add this to your Ravelry queue

Materials

• Yarn: Worsted weight yarn
  • 250 yds red
  • 60 yds cream
  • 10 yds brown
  • 40 yds green
• Hook: Size I / 5.5 mm crochet hook or size needed to match gauge.
• Notions:
  • Yarn Needle
  • 4 stitch markers
  • Embellishments as desired
  • 14 inch square pillow form

Project Level

Intermediate: Intarsia crochet colorwork, working in back loops only, seaming.

Size

14 inches square. This is designed to fit snuggly around a 14 inch pillow form. The cover can be slightly less than 14 inches, but should stretch comfortably to fit.

Gauge

11 sc x 13 rows = 4 inches

Abbreviations used

(Pattern is written in US terms)
ch = chain
sc = single crochet
dc = double crochet
csdc = chainless starting double crochet (optional – see Recommended Resources)
st(s) = stitch(es)
RS = right side

Recommended Resources

• Chainless Starting Double Crochet (csdc) from Moogly
• Changing Colors Tutorial
• How to Crochet Into the Back Bump
• Lunchtime Live demo – Intarsia Crochet

Instructions

The chainless starting double crochet (csdc) creates a cleaner edge which will make seaming easier. However, if you prefer you can replace csdc with “ch 3, counts as dc” throughout the pattern.

Prepare Bobbins

For the front of the pillow, you will need separate balls of yarn for each color section. Before you start, wind a separate ball or bobbin with about 25 or 30 yards of red yarn. Do the same with cream.

Bottom Back

Ch 40 with red

Front

Change colors as indicated in the last part of the previous stitch. See this changing colors tutorial for more details on clean color changes. Use a separate ball of yarn for each section of color – do not carry yarn from one section to another. Cut yarns when they are no longer needed, leaving tails to weave in.

Row 29: Ch 1, turn, sc in back loop only of each st across. This leaves a line of unused loops to mark the fold line.

(Scroll down for chart of rows 30-74)

Rows 30-34: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across.

Rows 35-73: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across, changing colors as indicated below:

• Rows 35-36: 3 red, 33 cream, 3 red
• Rows 37-39: 3 red, 14 cream, 5 brown, 14 cream, 3 red
• Row 40: 3 red, 4 cream, 25 green, 4 cream, 3 red
• Row 41: 3 red, 3 cream, 27 green, 3 cream, 3 red
• Row 42: 3 red, 5 cream, 23 green, 5 cream, 3 red
• Row 43: 3 red, 6 cream, 21 green, 6 cream, 3 red
• Rows 44-45: 3 red, 7 cream, 19 green, 7 cream, 3 red
• Row 46: 3 red, 8 cream, 17 green, 8 cream, 3 red
• Row 47: 3 red, 6 cream, 21 green, 6 cream, 3 red
• Row 48: 3 red, 5 cream, 23 green, 5 cream, 3 red
• Row 49: 3 red, 7 cream, 19 green, 7 cream, 3 red
• Row 50: 3 red, 8 cream, 17 green, 8 cream, 3 red
• Rows 51-52: 3 red, 9 cream, 15 green, 9 cream, 3 red
• Row 53: 3 red, 10 cream, 13 green, 10 cream, 3 red
• Row 54: 3 red, 8 cream, 17 green, 8 cream, 3 red
• Row 55: 3 red, 7 cream, 19 green, 7 cream, 3 red
• Row 56: 3 red, 9 cream, 15 green, 9 cream, 3 red
• Row 57: 3 red, 10 cream, 13 green, 10 cream, 3 red
• Row 58: 3 red, 11 cream, 11 green, 11 cream, 3 red
• Row 59: 3 red, 12 cream, 9 green, 12 cream, 3 red
• Row 60: 3 red, 11 cream, 11 green, 11 cream, 3 red
• Row 61: 3 red, 10 cream, 13 green, 10 cream, 3 red
• Row 62: 3 red, 12 cream, 9 green, 12 cream, 3 red
• Row 63: 3 red, 13 cream, 7 green, 13 cream, 3 red
• Row 64: 3 red, 14 cream, 5 green, 14 cream, 3 red
• Row 65: 3 red, 15 cream, 3 green, 15 cream, 3 red
• Row 66: 3 red, 16 cream, 1 green, 16 cream, 3 red
• Row 67-68: 3 red, 33 cream, 3 red

Rows 69-74: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across.

Chart

(same as written instructions for rows 30-74 of Front)

Each square on the chart is a single crochet in the color shown.

Top Back

If you haven’t already, cut all yarns except for current working ball of red, leaving tails to weave in later.

Row 75: Turn, working in back loops only, csdc in first st, dc in each st across. This leaves a line of unused loops to mark the fold line.

Row 76: Ch 1, turn, sc in each st across

Row 77: Turn, csdc in first st, dc in each st across.

Row 78: Repeat row 76. Place a marker at each end of this row.

Row 79: Repeat row 77

Rows 80-90: Repeat rows 76-77 5 times more, then repeat row 76 once more.

Fasten off.

Finishing:

Weave in all ends

Trim the Tree (optional):

Decorate the tree as desired. Embroidery, sequins, buttons, pom poms and felt appliques are all good options.

Seaming:

Lay pillow flat with tree upright and right side facing up.

Fold the top down first, being sure to fold at the line formed by the unused loops.

Fold the bottom up in the same manner. The ends of the top and bottom sections should line up evenly with the markers, creating a 13 row overlap.

With red, sew side edges closed, working through all layers.

Weave in any remaining ends and remove markers.

Turn pillow right-side-out and insert pillow form.

Fluff and enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed this Trim the Tree Pillow pattern. A downloadable pdf of this pattern is available on Ravelry for a small fee. The fee for the pdf format is to offset the advertising revenue lost when you print or download the pattern rather than viewing it online.

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