Keepsake Handprint Pillow

This handprint pillow class project is a great keepsake idea for teachers and parents. A great project for a school fundraiser or silent auction!

As a mama who is active in our school’s PTA, I am always looking for a fun class project idea to make in my kids’ classes for fundraisers, Teacher Appreciation Week, and teacher gifts for birthdays or the end of the school year. This year, I made this handprint pillow for my daughter’s class for the class project for our school fall fair silent auction, and it was a real crowd pleaser! This project can be completed with absolutely no sewing at all if you choose, or you can add it to a handmade pillow cover if you’re feeling ambitious. Continue reading for the step-by-step directions for this creative school project idea!

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Handprint Pillow Class Project Supplies

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• Paper or cardstock
• Pen or marker
• Scissors
• No-sew fusible web
• Iron
• Quilting cotton fabric 
• Sewing Shears
• Optional: Iron-on letters for personalizing (I cut my iron-on vinyl lettering with my Cricut)
• Pillow cover (buy one readymade, or make your own with my Envelope-Back Pillow Tutorial)
• Pillow insert

To begin, trace each child’s hand onto a piece of paper or cardstock, and cut out the hand shapes with scissors. (One thing I loved about this particular class project was that since the only portion that had to be done in class was the hand tracing, I didn’t have to take up a huge amount of time in the classroom. You can even have the teacher complete this step for you if s/he prefers that.)

Trace the handprints onto the smooth side of the fusible web. (Because my pillow used three different fabric designs for the hands, I clustered my handprints for tracing together by which hands would be cut from each fabric, and then labeled them so I knew exactly which hands would be fused to the different fabric types.)

Fuse the fusible to the back side of the fabric for each set of hands according to the package instructions. Carefully cut out each handprint using sewing shears. Be precise when cutting, as that raw edge will be visible on your finished project!

Remove the paper backing from the fused fabric handprints. Arrange the handprints as desired on the pillow front and iron them into place. I decided to go with a fun starburst shape for my handprints, but there really are boundless options for how to arrange them! 

The beauty of this project is that once the hands are ironed into place, the no-sew fusible web means you don’t have to stitch around them at all. They will all stay put, even when washed!

To further personalize this class project, you can also add a shape like a heart or circle to the center of the handprint cluster with a teacher’s name and the school year, or any other information you like. I cut my wording from iron-on vinyl using my Cricut machine, but you can find ready-made iron-on lettering in any craft store if you don’t have a cutting machine available. The red heart here was ironed on using the same fusible web I used for the handprints.

I made the pillow cover for this project on my own, but to make this a completely no-sew project, you can buy a ready-made pillow cover instead. Super easy!

This would also be a great gift idea for grandparents when made with grandkids’ handprints!

Looking for even more great ideas for classroom art projects for auctions or teacher gifts? Pop Sugar has a round-up of great ideas to check out!