DIY: Easiest. Pillow. Ever.

Pause for a moment because your life will never be the same. Ready?

A throw pillow made from a fabric placemat.

You know the kind I’m talking about… the placemat that you wash once and it never looks the same because, well, it needs to be ironed and sometimes that doesn’t even work? Can you tell that I’m bitter? I’ve been burned by fabric placemats before. But now, NOW, I love fabric placemats… at least, I love pillows formerly known as fabric pacemats.

You can thank my crafty sister-in-law for this genius idea, she rocked my world when she gave me one for Christmas. Even the gals at Crate and Barrel stared in wide-eyed-wonder when I explained what I had in store for this beauty.
Check it out after the jump…

1. Find your placemat. There are lots of great deals. The Crate and Barrel outlet is a good place to look if you have one nearby. Just make sure that the front and back fabric can pull apart inside.

2. Pick a discreet spot for your hole.

3. Using a seam ripper, cut the thread along 4-5 inches, leaving a tail of thread on each side if possible.

4. Pull the thread on one side. The thread from the other side should pop out. Pull it through and tie the two pieces together. Repeat on the other side of your hole

5. Stuff your pillow until firm with fluffed stuffing (to avoid lumps.) Don’t forget the corners!

6. Pin your hole closed and stitch along original stitching line. I hand stitched mine.

And that’s it!

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16 Comments

Kelly's Baby Bows

What a great idea! I love the look of some placemats, but sometimes don't end up using them. I will be making one of these for my baby's room! Thanks for the inspiration!

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Faith

Absolutely brilliant! I always see pretty placemats that I would never use as placemats. And now I can tons of pillows around the house. My husband will be so happy. 😀

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The Reluctant Craftster

I saw those placemats the day I bought napkins to make a tanktop for my daughter. The crate and barrel outlet near us has 99 ct dishtowels, hard to beat that price on canvas fabric.

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Ali

This is awesome…I'm going to have to swing by Big Lots sometime and see if I can find some awesome placemats on sale.

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Fiona K

I am in love with the print of these placemats/pillow. I have been searching for a fabric to make into a bag I found on Pinterest, I wish this was a textile I could order from somewhere online 🙁 Having said all that, I have a set of 8 placemats that went wonky in the wash… Now I know what to do with them!

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