one way to make a pillow form

I've decided that it is pillow week here at crazy mom quilts. All pillows, all week. Yes, I'm feeding my obsession. :)

I get a lot of questions about pillow forms, so I thought I would share an easy tutorial for them. I think the store bought ones are overpriced and kind of wimpy, so I like to make my own. It is easy, quick and you can make them any size you want. Plus, you will have a much better product in the end.

First, you need some heavy weight fabric. Decorator weight fabric, light weight canvas, heavy linen, or even denim works well. I'm not too picky about what I use. I usually watch for a sale and stock up at that time. Make sure that the fabric feels good. I don't use quilting cotton because it's just not sturdy enough.

Determine your pillow size, then add 1/2" to that measurement. I'm making a 20" finished pillow, and I'm using a 1/4" seam allowance, so I cut two squares at 20.5". (If you want to use a 1/2" seam allowance, add 1" to your finished size.)

Place the fabrics right sides together and pin all the way around. I like to double pin at the start and stop points, just to remind myself to leave an opening. (If you look at the photo above, I placed x's where I double pinned.) Leave a 5" opening.

Trim the corners.

Turn your piece right side out. Poke each corner out using a blunt tip scissors, the end of a paintbrush, a knitting needle...whatever you have available.

Now it's time to stuff. I use poly fiberfill because it's cheap and it works pretty well. All that poly gets hidden beneath layers of cotton anyway. Make sure to pull it apart into smaller pieces before you stuff it in.

For the corners, take a skinny string of leftover batting, ball it up and shove it far into the point. I tried this for the first time today and it worked very well! It seems like the poly fill likes to bounce right out of the corners, but the batting stayed snug. This gives the corners better form.

The key is to stuff it just enough. If you overfill it, the pillow will be hard. If you don't fill it enough the pillow will be flat. You want it just right, because picking out hand stitching and adjusting the amount of stuffing is a drag. (I know all too well.)

At this point I usually squish the pillow from the center of each side and wiggle it around a little bit to smooth out any lumps or bumps.

Fold in the raw edges, finger crease, then clip (or pin) it shut. I use clover wonder clips for this step. (If you don't have any wonder clips, get some. They will be a great addition to your sewing notions.) Hand stitch the opening closed.

And you are done!!! Super easy, right? I LOVE making these! When I make pillow covers, I make the finished size 20" as well, and it's a perfect fit every time.

Like I said, you can make them any size you want. I made a few pillow forms that were 36" square, for my kids' giant pillows. (These have quilted pillow covers on them, just to clarify.) I used the same technique for the pillow form above, but I cut two 36 1/2" squares for these. I filled them with poly batting, because my friend had given me a giant roll. You can read more about that in this post. I wouldn't recommend purchasing poly batting as a filler, but if you have any on hand that you want to use up, this may be the place to do so.

So, that's how I make my pillow forms. If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them in the comments.

I'm curious, do you make or buy your pillow forms?

Happy Monday to you!