Place Mat Pillows

I've been looking all over for the perfect fabrics from which to make pillows for my couch. Now that I've decided on my color scheme, all I had to do was find stuff that matched and that I liked. I swear that I saw awesome navy fabrics everywhere a few months ago, but now I'm having a hard time finding any that I like that aren't an arm and a leg. I've branched out my search to bed sheets and tablecloths, because hey - fabric is fabric! I was looking at the tablecloths at Target one day when I happened to glance over at the place mats.

Now, place mats aren't usually something that I look for. They seem kind of fussy to me so I just pass them by. However, I really liked the color and texture of this one place mat there. Immediately a tutorial that I saw on House of Hepworths a while back came to mind, so I grabbed two.

To make a pillow from a place mat, you'll need a place mat that is made with two layers of fabric, some coordinating thread, a sewing needle, and a seam ripper.

Oh, and a bag of Poly-Fil. I used a whole bag for each pillow.

Take your seam ripper and very carefully open a four inch long section on one side of the place mat.

Stuff the Poly-Fil into the opening. Be sure to get it in the corners and to spread it evenly so your pillow isn't lumpy.

Next, sew up the opening using a ladder stitch.

After I did that, I did a running stitch going back so that it would match the top stitching on the place mat. That's it! It took me about half an hour to do each one, which is pretty awesome considering I did all my sewing by hand. I paid $3.99 for each of the place mats, and another $2.99 for each bag of Poly-Fil. I had the thread and needles already, so that means I paid $7.00 for each pillow! What a bargain, and they look great on my couch too. Win!