Make easy DIY throw pillow covers – no pattern needed

New pillow covers are a great way to refresh a room’s decor, but sometimes they’re pricey at the store.  And sometimes it’s hard to find just the right combination of size, color, and pattern for accent pillows.  Luckily, it’s inexpensive and easy to create DIY throw pillow covers!Pillows DIY

My two new DIY throw pillow covers cost less than $8.00 for the fabric and only took about 1.5 hours to make.  I didn’t even need a pattern for this simple sewing project.

When I recovered a bench for the front entry in our home, it needed the right pillows as the perfect finishing touch.  I had some pillows tucked away that were just the right size, but they didn’t match my bench.  That meant it was time for some new DIY throw pillow covers.

To get started, I went to check out the upholstery fabric options at Hobby Lobby.  I love the home fabric selection at Hobby Lobby, and the price is right since their upholstery fabric is always 30% off.  The Channing Striped home decor fabric coordinated well with my bench.  Since I only needed 3/4 yard, the fabric was just $7.87 (plus tax)!

My original pillow covers had a zipper that made it easy to remove the old cases.  I took off the old pillowcases and placed them on the “wrong side” of the new fabric to cut it to the right size.  I decided to double the fabric and arrange the pillowcases so that I would only have to sew three seams – on the bottom and two sides.  The fold in the fabric would serve as the seamless top of my DIY throw pillow covers.

Pillow cover - sizing fabric | AMerryMom.com

Sizing the fabric for the new pillow covers. Note that the fabric is doubled, with the fold shown at the bottom of the picture. The folded side serves as the seamless top of the pillow cover.  I didn’t round the corners of the new pillow covers like the old ones.

When I had the original pillow covers arranged just right, I cut freehand about an inch out from the old pillow cover.  Keeping the fabric with the wrong side facing out, I pinned the pillowcases where I wanted to sew the seam and held them against the pillow form to make sure the size was accurate.

I decided not to mess with zippers for my DIY pillow covers so I didn’t have to fit those to the fabric.  I pulled out my sewing machine for a quick stitching session.  I sewed simple, straight seams on two sides of the pillow covers.

DIY throw pillow cover - ready to insert pillow form | AMerryMom.com

Ready to insert the pillow form. Down pillow forms squish down easily to insert into a new DIY throw pillow cover.

Without a zipper, I left an opening about a third of the length of the last seam so I could insert the pillow form and then hand-stitch the openings closed. For that third seam on the side of the pillow cover, I sewed about one-third of the way and backstitched to stop.  I left the middle third of that side open so I could insert the pillow into the pillowcase.  Then I stitched the last third of that side to complete the machine sewing on the pillow cover.

After the machine sewing was done on both of my DIY pillow covers, I pulled the “right side” of the fabric out through the opening I had left unstitched.  I folded the pillow forms down and carefully stuffed them into the new pillow covers.  Since I was using down pillows, it was fairly easy to squeeze them down to fit.  They fluffed back up easily and filled the new pillow covers well.

The final step for my DIY throw pillow covers was to close the opening in the seam with a slip stitch.Hand sewing a pillow cover opening - AMerryMom.com

All done!  I love my new DIY throw pillow covers on my recovered bench!

Recovered bench cushion with new pillows - AMerryMom.com


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2 thoughts on “Make easy DIY throw pillow covers – no pattern needed

  1. Ashley

    Great pillows! I bought a sewing machine a while ago, but it is still in the box and I still haven’t taken the time to learn! But this looks like it would be a great starting project for me! Thanks so much for sharing! I’m pinning to save for my first sewing project! 😀

    Reply
    1. LisaLisa Post author

      Thanks for stopping by, Ashley. These pillow covers are super easy with just a few short, straight seams so they should be good as a starting project. Good luck when you pull out your sewing machine and get started! :)

      Reply

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