DIY Nursing Pillow & 2 ways to sew pillow cover

I am going on vacation to India next month, and I asked my friend(She is blessed with a girl on 1st week of April) what she wants from USA. She said she wants bobby pillow and I said "Why to buy ?? I will make it for you"And so here it is.

Materials required :

1 1/2 yard of solid cotton for pillow form 

1 1/2 yard of  printed cotton for pillow cover

Stuffing (approximately 32 ounces)

Matching thread

Hand sewing Needle

Marking chalk

Straight pins

Sewing machine

Iron

Fabric scissors

Steps to make pillow form :

Step 1: Wash ,dry and press the fabric before sewing to prevent the fabric from shrinking.Download and print the paper pattern.I used the pattern made by Marzi from Made by Marzipan.You can also use your own pattern.Arrange the pattern as mentioned and glue the pattern pieces together.

Step 2: Fold the fabric in half and place the pattern on the fold. Pin the pattern on to the fabric and cut the fabric. Repeat the same to cut another piece.

Step 3:Now pin the fabric pieces together and sew along the corners with 1/2 inch seam allowance leaving around 4 to 5 inches gap to fill the stuffing.

Step 4: Snip the seam allowance all around curve to avoid wrinkling of finished seam when the fabric is turned inside out. Be careful not to snip the seam.Turn the right side out and press.

Step 5: Fill the pillow with stuffing . You should make the pillow form firm so fill it in such a way that, it is difficult to slip in your hands inside the stuffing.

Step 6: Thread the hand sewing needle and make a ladder stitch to close the opening of the pillow form and your pillow form is done.

I have showed the gray pillow form as brown thread in the brown fabric is not visible.

2 ways to sew a pillow cover:

There are many ways to sew a cover for the bobby pillow. Here I am showing 2 ways to sew a pillow cover . You can use the pillow form and make your own pattern by tracing the outline and adding 2 inches all around or use the pattern made by Marzi from Made by Marzipan.

1) Zipper :

Step 1: Wash, dry and press the fabric. Download and print the pattern or make your own.

Step 2: Fold the fabric in half and place the pattern on the fold. Pin the pattern on to the fabric and cut the fabric. Repeat the same to cut another piece.

Step 3: Now pin the fabric pieces together and sew along the corners with 1/4 inch seam allowance  leaving the opening for zipper around 18 to 22 inch depending on the length of the zipper.I pinned the zipper to the fabric and then marked the opening, as shown below.

Step 4: Snip the seam allowance all around curve to avoid wrinkling of finished seam when the fabric is turned inside out. Be careful not to snip the seam.Turn the right side out and press.

Step 5: Change the foot to zipper foot. Take the seam allowance of the opening on one side of the pillow cover and place it on one side of the zipper .Pin it together and sew .Once it is done , repeat the same for the other side of the zipper.If you end up with a small opening on the edges of the zipper , sew it along with the seam allowance on the inside to close the opening.And that is it :) . You cover is now ready. These steps may sound easy to you, but it was quite a challenge for me as I have not worked with zipper much.If you are like me, don't worry you will do it !! If I can do it then you can surely do it !!If it sounds intimidating, I have another way to sew the cover , here is how.

2) Pillow cover with button closure.

This cover is little different from the previous one in such a way that , this has a back opening instead of zipper. This back opening can be left as such or you can use button & buttonhole as closure or snap buttons or velcro. I will leave that to your choice.I am going to show you the button & buttonhole method.

Step 1: Wash, dry and press the fabric. Download and print the pattern or make your own.

Step 2:Decide where you want the opening.Draw a line and cut the pattern into two. Now add one inch to the top of the pattern for overlapping. And then 1 1/2 inch more for folding and stitching the buttonholes.So add 2 1/2 inch in total for the top and 1 1/2 inch for the bottom of the pattern.You can make a new pattern with these measurements or add these measurements with the pattern pinned to the fabric and cut the fabric.I did the later one and here is how the fabric pieces look.

Step 3: Fold,press and sew the hem of both the pieces. Mark the places for buttons and button holes. Change your foot accordingly and stitch the buttons and buttonholes. (Let me know if you need help of this. My machine sews buttons as well as buttonholes and so I changed the feet and stitched the buttons and buttonholes according to the instructions in the manual.)

Step 4: Place the two pieces in such a way it overlaps and place the front piece with right sides facing each other.Pin the fabrics together and sew along the corners with 1/4 inch seam allowance.Turn it inside out and your cover is now ready.!!I felt this cover was little tight in the center compared to the zipper one so if you want you can add extra few inches(1/2 to 1 inch) to the bottom panel of the back piece when you are cutting.

I preferred buttons over velcro because my sister was telling me that velcro tends to attract lints and other things while washing so it is better to use buttons.And I also felt the same.But as mentioned earlier, I will leave that to your choice. :). If you prefer to leave it as such I would suggest you to plan the opening near to the top edge instead of middle and also increase the overlapping inches( From 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch) to prevent the opening from opening (If that makes sense, you got me ,right?? ;)).

 Hope you enjoyed this handmade nursing pillow.Let me know if you have any doubts, I will try to clarify it as soon as possible. What do you think about this tutorial? Leave them in the comments below or mail me at vikalpah@gmail.com. As always I will be happy to hear from you. 

Want more ideas for handmade gifts for your mom-to-be friends?? Check this DIY Nursing Cover.