If you have little ones they will love these DIY floor pillows. This is a quick and easy tutorial to make a fun and easy addition to your playroom, tv room, or another area in your home.
DIY Floor Pillows | How to Sew Floor Pillows
The DIY floor pillows are perfect for having a little snack break on…
Or having a little rest
Or if you have older kids these are also perfect for jumping! Anne loves jumping up and down on these without getting in trouble 🙂
They have a zipper so you can remove the stuffing if you need to wash them. Not that my toddlers ever spill on things 🙂 And a fun little handle for toting them around.
DIY Floor Pillow Materials & Fabric
Let’s get started. I made 2 DIY floor pillows but here’s the supply list for one 20″ floor cushion:
Floor Pillow Fabric:
- 2/3 yard main fabric (this is the top, bottom and handle)
- 1/2 yard contrast fabric for side panels (my cushion was 6″ tall. For a lower cushion you could get away with 1/3 yard)
- 2 yards Medium or Heavyweight Interfacing: I added this too all of my pieces before starting
- 4 yards of piping (optional)
Floor Pillow Foam: This can be pricey at the craft store. I cut up an old mattress topper and I’ve heard you can also buy a big slab at Home Depot for $20 and which would give you enough for 2 cushions. You can find it in the camping section.
Floor Pillow Zipper: I used the 14″ zippers for my DIY floor pillow and with my heavy-duty foam it was a bit of a squeeze so you may want to go a bit bigger.
How to Sew a DIY Floor Pillow
Floor Pillows Step 1: Cut out a top and bottom circle with a 20″ diameter. I cut a string to 10″ and pinned it in the center and taped a pen to the other end to create a make shift compass (remember those???). I then folded it in quarters to make sure everything lined up well and cut them out. If you want to do piping baste that to the outer edge overlapping your 2 ends. I find it’s easiest to use my zipper foot for this step.
Floor Pillows Step 2: For a 20″ circle your finished side panel needs to be 61.25″. I made my panels 7″ tall based on the height of the foam I was using (I wanted two 3″ layers in each cushion). If you get a nice long zipper you can go with two 31.5″ panels and use 1/2″ seam allowances to join them together. I’ll leave the rest of the math up to you based on your zipper size 🙂
The zipper panel needs to be 1″ taller than your other panels (mine was 8″) and 1″ longer than your zipper length. Cut the panel in half so you have 2 long skinny pieces and then with right sides together sew one side of the zipper to the 1st piece.
Floor Pillows Step 3: Sew the other side of your zipper to the 2nd zipper panel with right sides together.
You’ll now have this…
Floor Pillows Step 4: Flip it over and topstitch the zipper to the fabric right along the zipper edge
Floor Pillows Step 5: For an extra pop you can add piping along both short edges of the zipper panel
Floor Pillows Step 6: I cut my handles to 9 x 5″. Press all edges in 1/4″ and then fold in half with the long edges lined up and topstitch around all edges.
Floor Pillows Step 7: Center the handle on the non-zipper pillow panel and topstitch each end in place with a barn door stitching pattern. You can either have the handle laying flat or you can scoot each end in a bit so the handle pops up. I think it’s a bit easier for little hands to grab if it’s sticking out some.
Floor Pillows Step 8: With right sides together sew your panels together along the short edges.
Floor Pillows Step 9: Topstitch next to the piping on each pillow case.
Floor Pillows Step 10: Carefully pin your finished panel to the bottom piece. If it’s a bit too big or small you can adjust by changing your seam allowances from step 7. If you measured carefully you should be good to go 🙂 Sew together right along the piping edge (I ended up using a 1/4″ seam allowance).
Floor Pillows Step 11: Unzip your pillow zipper at least 6″ and then sew on the top panel of the pillow. Turn the right side out through the zipper opening.
Floor Pillows Step 12: Cut your foam for the pillows out using a serrated knife. I ended up using 2 layers of foam for each pillow cushion.
Pillows Step 13: Stuff the foam in the pillows and zip them shut
Other Pillow Sewing Tutorials
Hope you love the DIY floor pillows! If you enjoyed this tutorial, you might enjoy some of our other favorite pillow-related posts:
As always, come visit us in our Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop Facebook Group to ask sewing-related questions and share what you make!
8 Responses
I use an electric knife for all my foam cutting projects, , it’s like using a hot knife in butter, very smooth. I use a marker on my foam for cutting line and just start slicing away.
Just thought I would tell you that I made a couple of these for my daughter’s birthday. They were such a hit, I had people asking me to make them some. I just wish I could find a place to get some cheaper foam!
I’m so glad they were a hit!
The most inexpensive foam is recycled foam. Often family members are tossing an old couch…grab that foam …it is worth more to a new project than that old couch going to the dump. Even if the fabric looks worn and dirty chances are the foam is clean and untouched inside the cushions because in order to create a well stuffed couch, in the beginning, the manufacturer will have lined the cushions and covered the foam separately before installing it into the couch cushions. Most foam is urethane which is in the plastics family so unless it has been in direct sunlight or exposed to intense heat for long periods it has a lifespan that exceeds 20 years. It won’t be buggy because bugs don’t nest in man-made fibers like they do horsehair and other natural fibers. You’ll be surprised at what good shape the foam in those old cushions is in. If, however, you find the foam in a condition that it is not spongy or has a sandy feeling; let it go ahead to the dump with the rest of the couch. It is worn out!
Hi..this is GREAT and I am dying to make a couple for my kids room. For the piping..did you use the regular piping or did you make or get heavy duty piping?
I just used regular piping but you could definitely make it thicker if you wanted a bit more pop 🙂
Totally going this route, but reusing stuffing from an older stuffed “chair” project.
Such a great and fun idea! Maybe when I feel the need to pull out my sewing machine (which happens once in a blue moon)I’ll make a couple of these. My kids would love them!