How to Sew a Bolster Pillow

Sewing a bolster pillow presents is more difficult than sewing a regular pillow. Still, if you follow the steps carefully, you will not have any problems. Here are instructions on how to sew a bolster pillow.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Batting or bolster foam
• Fabric
• Needle
• Thread
• Sewing machine
• Measuring tape

1. Make two circles for the ends. They will go on each end of the bolster pillow, so think about how thick you want the pillow to be and cut the circles accordingly. If you are using bolster pillow foam, it is already the shape of the pillow, so you can place it on end and draw a circle around it. Then draw another circle ½ inch smaller than the circle you just drew for the sewing line so you can have a tight fit.

2. 

   Measure and cut out fabric for the length of the pillow. It can of course, be any length that you want within reason. The circumference of the round sides however, will determine the width. To determine how wide to cut the fabric, you can multiply diameter x pi. The diameter is equal to the width of your circle, and pi is 3.14. So if you measure across the center of the circle and find that it is 8 inches wide, you would multiply 8 x 3.14, which equals 25.84 or approximately 25 and 4/5 inches. Add and extra inch to for overlap. Once again, if you are using bolster foam, you can just wrap your fabric around the foam to determine the length and width.

3. Cut out the fabric circles and rectangle with sharp fabric scissors. Clear away excess fabric from the workspace and lay the cut pieces out flat.

4. Pin the fabric rectangles and circles together. Remember to do this inside out. The rectangle should go all the way around your end and meet on the other side. Fold the raw edge that will eventually be on the outside in to provide a clean edge and pin it in place. If you wish, you can add a welt cord to the pillow while you are pinning it in place. The welt would go between the two pieces of fabric with the cord facing in.

5. Carefully, turn the pinned pillow right-side out and make sure the seams are straight and that you are satisfied with the pillow casing. Then, turn it inside out again and sew the two ends in place using a sewing machine. This will leave an opening to insert the pillow form or batting.

6. Insert the pillow form or batting and then sew the pillow closed using tiny evenly spaced stitches.

Tips & Warnings

• For a fancier pillow, you can piece together different fabric strips to make the pillow more interesting, such as the one shown in the photo.
• Don't be afraid to experiment and have fun.