Pillow Pattern From Plastic Bag

I stitched up a couple of pillows for my daughter using the plastic bag for my pattern.  It's a quick and easy way to make pillows, especially if you have an aversion to putting in zippers like me!  Here's how...

 

For two small lumbar pillows you'll need about 3/4 yard of fabric.

 

 

Take the pillow bag...

 

...And place it on your fabric.  Measure along the length (width) of the bag and add about 2" for folding over.  Cut one of these as the front side of your pillow.  (You don't need to add any extra inches for seam allowance.)

Cut a second piece exactly the size of the bag (this will be the back side of your pillow).

Take the front piece of your pillow and iron down about a 1/2" on three sides (the two long sides + one short side).

After ironing, it should look like this:

Take both pieces (the front and back of your pillow) and pin them, right sides together.  It should look like this, with the front side longer than the back:

 

Sew the two sides together, along the two long sides and the one short side, leaving open the end where the front of the pillow is longer than the back.

Trim the two ends where the stitches intersect each other, so that when you turn your pillow right side out, your corners will be nice and pointy.

 

Close up of corners once turned right-side out:

 

 

Iron down about a 1/2" on each side of your exposed flap:

 

 

Fold your flap over like this:

 

Stitch down your flap:

Stuff your pillow (it's going to feel too tight but be patient because it should end up fitting beautifully) into your case, folding the flap down over the end:

 

Finished:

 

You can also make a pillow, again using the plastic bag as your pattern, this way...

 

Cut one piece of fabric the exact length and width of the plastic bag.  Cut a second piece of fabric the size of your bag and add about 3" to the width.

 

Take the wider of the two pieces and cut it down the middle.  Create a hem (iron and stitch) along the line you cut.  You will then have three pieces that look like this:

 

Pin and stitch pom poms or other piping along the right side of your smaller piece of fabric (what will be the front side of your pillow).

 

 

Pin and stitch the two back pieces of your pillow to the front side (right sides together); the two back pieces will overlap each other, like this:

 

While your pillow is still wrong-side out, trim all four corners so that they'll be pointy when turned right-side out.

 

Turn your pillow cover right-side out...

 

 

...And then stuff your pillow inside it.

 

 

Ta-dah!

 

I was secretly kinda hoping Natalie wouldn't love them once I took these pictures and saw how nicely they coordinate with our living room!  Turns out she does love them so they're on their way to her place in Philadelphia.

 

 

 Hope you find this plastic bag pattern tute helpful, and hope you have a great day!