Easy DIY Throw Pillow
Sarah N.
The other day, I was walking through one of my favorite stores, Hobby Lobby, and I came across an adorable kitchen towel. It has words from the song “A Bushel and a Peck” printed on it. I sing this song to my kids all the time, and my mom sang it to me, so I knew it was going to come home with me. If you don’t know this song, listen to it here:
But I don’t really like decorative towels. If I use them, they get gross. If I display them on the oven handle or something, they get pulled down by the kids or dogs. They’re just not very practical for my house.
I looked at it for a moment longer and decided it would make a good pillow. And because this song is usually sung at bedtime, I thought it would be perfect in one of our bedrooms.
This was a seriously easy DIY project, and only took me about 10 minutes to complete. It does require a sewing machine, but if you don’t have one of those and don’t want to hand stitch, you could probably even use fabric glue.
So, if you’re looking for a super quick DIY project to spruce up your home, follow along with my tutorial for this easy throw pillow tutorial.
Supplies:
1 tea towel
Sewing Machine
Black thread, or if your towel is a different color, match your thread to that.
Pillow insert, Fiberfill, or old throw pillow
Scissors
Measuring tape
STEP ONE: MEASURE YOUR TOWEL
Honestly, I lucked out and the towel I picked happened to fit perfectly over my pillow insert when I tested covering it before sewing. My insert was approximately 13”x22” and I have no idea where it came from. It’s been sitting in my closet for way too long now. But this project is so easy to customize to whatever size your insert is. You can even sew two towels together to make a large floor pillow or euro sham! Just make sure you measure before you cut or sew so that you won’t have to undo or redo your stitches.
My towel was $7.99 from Hobby Lobby, and was part of their spring line, so it was automatically 40% off!
Tip: it may help to wash and/or iron your towel before sewing so that it lays flat and looks smooth.
STEP TWO: SEW
Confession: I do NOT enjoy sewing. I love planning sewing projects and picking out fabric, but getting my machine out is usually accompanied by a mini panic attack because inevitably, something goes wrong, something doesn’t work, or Heaven help me, I have to replace the bobbin.
Fortunately, Youtube has endless video tutorials for fixing specific machines, even when they’re not actually broken (it’s almost always user error here). And I’m happy to report that I even completed this project without calling my mom crying for help. THAT is a success!
Okay, now to the practical parts– start by folding your towel in half, right sides together. This is important because you want your seams to be on the inside of your pillow case once you turn it right side out.
Next, pin the edges together, lining up the seams and being sure to keep everything smooth and straight. Pin the long straight side, and one of the short sides. You’ll need to leave one end open to insert the pillow when that time comes.
Then sew the two pinned edges together. I followed along the existing hemmed border of the towel since I did not have to trim my towel to fit my pillow insert. If you are using a different sized pillow insert, make sure you measure and sew to where you leave about a ¼ inch to ½ inch seam allowance.
When you begin sewing, make a few stitches into your fabric, then reverse the direction of your machine so that you sew a few stitches backwards over your first stitches to reinforce your seam. Then, continue sewing the two edges together. Repeat the reverse stitching at the end of your seam before you cut the towel off your machine.
I got this simple Singer machine years ago, but here’s a similar model on Amazon.
STEP THREE: STUFF YOUR PILLOW
When your towel is cut off your machine, it should resemble an inside out pillow case, or flour sack. So, turn it right side out and make sure you can see your design centered on your pillow case. If it doesn’t look right, you can remove your stitches using one of these but if you measured correctly, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Next, stuff your pillow insert into the open end of your pillow case. I had an old pillow form that measured approximately 13×22 inches like this one.
If you can’t find a pillow insert of the appropriate size, you can also stuff it with loose fiberfill.
You can also use an old throw pillow- either remove the cover it came with, or just put the whole thing into your new towel pillow case as long as the existing design doesn’t show through. Sometimes it’s cheaper to buy ugly throw pillows and cover them than it is to buy “real” pillow inserts.
STEP FOUR: SEW AGAIN
When your pillow is stuffed, you’ll be left with one open end of your pillow case. If you want to leave it, more power to you. But if you want to sew the whole thing up, you have a couple options.
- You can use an invisible stitch to close up the opening and match the rest of your seams (where it looks like you sewed it inside out). Watch this tutorial for help with that.
- You can be like me, and simply sew it together, leaving a “raw” edge exposed, It’s not truly raw because my towel had hemmed edges that did not need cut, but it is more exposed than the other seams I made.
I was perfectly happy with the second, easier option for my quick little pillow.
And now you’re done! I hope that was as easy and quick for you as it was for me. I also hope this inspires you to look at all materials with an open mind. There are endless options out there for repurposing objects and decorating your home while staying on budget.
If you make your own kitchen towel pillow, please share it with us!
