The Easiest Way to Sew a Pillow

It may have been my very first up-cycle.  

It was back in college in the late 80’s  and I was moving in to an apartment with a roommate and we didn’t have much furniture. I don’t think we had more than a chair or two but I distinctly remember the two large floor pillows that I brought in to the mix.  They were pink and green and they looked more “bedroom” than “living room.”  I decided they needed a makeover.  

I bought some inexpensive remnant fabric and made a couple of “slipcovers” for my pillows.  In less than two hours, they looked like new.  This was the first in many adventures of re-decorating.  

From those first pillows in my college apartment to the pillows I make today, I am so grateful that I know how to sew.  If you don’t know how to sew already, I think pillows are a great place to start.  

Today I’m showing you what I think is the easiest way to sew a pillow.  

For today’s tutorial, I’m going to assume you already know how to use a machine.  (And, please, I would love to know if you don’t know how to use one — if you’re interested in a basic “how-to” I will definitely try to put together a basic tutorial for using a machine.)

How to sew a simple knife-edge pillow:

Materials:

• pillow form
• fabric
• fabric scissors
• matching thread
• needle and thread for closing the opening

Directions:

1.  Measure and cut the fabric —

I don’t have this listed in my materials list because this is optional, but I’m going to tell you that I couldn’t live without this set.  It’s a cutting mat, rolling cutter and straight edge or ruler. It’s actually for quilting, but I find it invaluable for creating perfectly square pillows —  it’s a rotary cutting set.   I lay out and measure my fabric on the cutting mat and then use the straight edge and rotary scissors to cut out a perfect square or rectangle.   If my pillow is 20″ square, I cut out 21″ square to allow for a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Translated, that means that I will sew 1/2 inch from the edge of the fabric all the way around.  Important:  cut your fabric with the “right” sides of the fabric facing one another.  Meaning, the sides of the fabric you want to be on the outside should be on the inside when cutting and sewing.

2.  Pin the fabric — Using straight pins, I carefully pin — again — the right sides of the fabric together.  And, because I am showing you the simplest way to sew a pillow I am only going to sew 3 full sides of the fabric.  The wider the opening you leave to insert the pillow form, the easier it is to get that form in there! 

3.  Begin sewing —

Because I am leaving an opening to insert the pillow form, I don’t want my sewing to unravel in the process of inserting the form.  Therefore, I always begin my seam by sewing for about a half an inch, then I back it up and sew back and forth over that same seam.  I just do it once to reinforce that area so any tugging that occurs during the insertion of the pillow form won’t pull apart my stitches.  On my sewing machine I have a little button that enables me to easily sew backwards.  

Each sewing machine is different, so refer to your owner’s manual if you’re unsure how to do this on your own machine.  

I should also point here  that it’s very important that you pay attention to your tension settings on your machine!  Adjust the tension per your machine’s instruction manual for the type of fabric you are using.  If you’re tension is off, your fabric could pucker or your stitches could be way too loose.  

4.  Trim the corners —

When you’re finished sewing you’ll need to trim the fabric from the corners of the square being very careful not to cut the beautiful seems you just sewed.  Why are you doing this?  Because trimming that excess fabric gets rid of the bulky fabric that would prevent you from having nice square pillow edges/ends.  You can skip this step if you’re impatient, but your pillow will look so much nicer if you take this quick and easy step.

5.  Turn your fabric right-side-out — Some people would iron/press their seems before they turn the fabric right-side-out but I don’t really find it too necessary with simple pillows.  It really depends on the heaviness of the fabric, in my opinion so do it or don’t do it, it’s really up to you!  Since it’s me, I just turn my fabric out and take good look to see that everything is in order.  If it looks good then it’s time to move on to the next step!

6.  Insert the pillow form — Yep, just put that pillow in just like you’re slipping it in to a pillow case.  That’s it.  Except for the fluffing and adjusting.  Just fluff and adjust until it fits just the way you want it.

7.  Sew the opening closed –– To sew the opening closed it requires that you know how to sew a whip stitch.  Don’t be afraid of using a needle and thread.  If you can sew a button, you can do this!

It’s a very simple stitch. Click here for a video tutorial I found on e-how.

When you’ve finished hand-sewing, you’re done! It really is so easy.  I hope you’ll try it if you’ve never done it before.

I think the results are so gratifying.  I really love being able to make my own pillows.  I get something I don’t see in stores and I can use all the fabrics I love in my home.

Happy sewing!