Sewing Pillow

You can’t make just one pillow! This is why you can find plenty of instructions for sewing pillows here: tutorials for pillows with a hotel closure (a great beginner project for new sewers!) as well as sewing instructions for pillows with a zipper. They range from classic pillows for the couch to patchwork pillows, nursing pillows, plush pillows and seat cushions for the garden bench to Christmas pillows. Of course, if you want to sew a pincushion, you will also find what you are looking for. Even unusual sewing ideas can be found here. For example, how about a cozy headrest with built-in speakers? The perfect gift for those who love to listen to music and audio books! The best thing about our pillow page is that the selection is constantly being expanded.

The classic: a pillow cover with a hotel closure

The pillow cover with a hotel closure is a quick and easy sewing project for an evening. Maybe you have a piece of leftover fabric that you would like to make into something? Then turn it into a pillow! Even beginners are guaranteed to succeed. That is why pillows are an ideal project for beginners: in a short period of time, you will have sewn a beautiful showpiece that you can use yourself or give as a gift. You can see how to sew a hotel closure in the instructions on this page. 

Sewing pillows, level two: with a zipper

Did you find the hotel closure easy? Then you are ready for the next sewing level: the zipper. Once again, the pillow is a great project to practice this new sewing technique. In the overview above, you will find numerous tutorials that show you how to do it. Different approaches are described, because of course everyone has different preferred ways of doing things. It is best to read through three or four tutorials and then decide which type of zipper you want to use and how you want to proceed.

Pillows with patchwork, piping, appliqués, etc.

Once you have the basic techniques down pat, you can now venture further and turn your pillow into your own piece of art. Here, once again, you will find numerous instructions for custom embellishing a pillow. For example, you can find out how to sew elegant piped edges, how to sew on appliqués (there is even a tutorial in several parts), how to use different patchwork techniques to create great effects, and how to sew a leather handle onto a seat cushion.

What type of fabric is suitable for sewing pillows? 

It is best for beginners to choose a non-stretch cotton fabric that doesn’t slip. Linen is also good. It’s easy to work out how much you need: calculate the desired area of your pillow plus a seam allowance and multiply it by two. If the fabric is 1.40 m wide, you should choose a length of approx. 52 cm. This will give you a pillow measuring 50 x 50 cm. For advanced users, anything goes! You can sew your pillow out of cozy imitation fur, fine silk or jersey. Even leather works, as you can see from the picture on the left. 

Sewing pillows for children and babies

Children like things that are cuddly soft and warm. You can give them a lot of joy with a nice pillow. For example, how about a name pillow as a gift? Instructions for heat pillows and activity pillows can also be found on the BERNINA blog, and of course the nursing pillow also falls into the category of pillows for children. For teens (and stressed mothers), there is the pillow with built-in speakers. Chill out, Mom! And be sure to use the blog’s search function for even more inspiration!

Miniature cushion: the pincushion

If you sew a lot, you can never have enough pincushions: one for the cutting table, one for the shelf next to it, one for the sewing machine … and the little cushion is perfect as a small gift and as a quick project to use up fabric remnants. Idea for a quick pincushion: take a pretty little dish, such as an egg cup or a sake cup, and fill it with a well-stuffed and decoratively tied-up ball of fabric. Done! You can find many more ideas on this page. Have fun sewing!