DIY Pregnancy Pillow

I consider myself to be a pretty low key kind of person. And truth be told, I’m also kinda stingy. So my response to most “absolutely 100% essential can’t-live-without” pregnancy items was to figure I’d survive without it.

Buuuuuuut….when my sister in law offered to let me try out her pregnancy pillow, I took her up on it, mostly to see what the hype was about. And to see if it really would be worth shelling out the cash for one of my own.

Guys, the pregnancy pillow is life changing! I’m serious. Pregnant ladies in the second and third trimester are supposed to avoid laying flat on their backs. Somehow, I got this engrained into my subconscious pretty well, so I started waking up in the morning having not shifted positions at all in the night. To say my hips were sore from taking the brunt of my weight would be an understatement.

But with the pillow, I’ve got something to rest my back against without fear of rolling flat on my back (regardless of which way I face). I’ve got the option to use the bottom end in between my knees, as is often suggested. And if I don’t use it, Jaeger dog took a great affinity toward the pregnancy pillow.

Anyhow, what I’m saying is that if you are pregnant, you should definitely consider getting yourself a pregnancy pillow. Whether you fork out the $60+ for it or choose to make your own for a fraction of the price, get yourself one! You won’t regret it!

To make your own, you’ll need:

• 2 yards of fabric
• a marker for drawing your pattern (I just used a sharpie and kept the marked side as the “wrong” side)
• A sewing machine
• scissors
• measuring tape
• matching thread
• needle
• cotton stuffing (4-6 pounds)

This project is super easy and quick. I based my pattern off my sister-in-law’s pillow. I’m sorry I’m not a fancier blogger and I don’t have like print out instructions for making this thing. The pictures aren’t the best, but hopefully you get a good idea of dimensions if you decide to make one for yourself. Also, remember that it doesn’t need to be perfect! If it resembles the pillow and is roughly the same size, you will be in pregnancy pillow heaven!

First, outline the shape you want to cut out. My fabric is folded, so when I made the cut, I have two pieces-a top and a bottom.

The weird thing in the middle will get sewn onto the bottom left part for a more substantial pillow (P.S. These pictures are upside down, I guess. Your head actually goes at the bottom…). Dimensions are below:

Note that everything is in inches. Once all the pieces are cut, sew the middle piece onto the bottom left portion of the pillow. It should look like this:

Ta-da! Do that with the other side too. If you have a clear front and back side of the fabric, always sew with right sides facing each other. If your fabric is like mine and indistinguishable between front and back, just think ahead and make sure the sewn edges will face out when you sew both side together. Here’s more dimensions:

Face your two pieces together (wrong side facing out, as seen below on the left) and sew! I started in the middle and on the inside of the “C” and gave myself a quarter seam allowance all the way around. When you get about 5-6inches away from where you started sewing, stop! Leave a little hole so you can turn the fabric right side out. See? Hole…

Then turn the fabric…so it’s got the right side out all the way around! Then stuff!

I bought 10 pounds of Poly fiber fill on Amazon! You don’t need 10 lbs for this project…but buying in bulk is a waaaaaaay better deal! And who couldn’t do with a few more throw pillows? After I bought it, I realized that Walmart has this online for even cheaper than Amazon (Walmart has it for $20 and Amazon has it for $24). If you’re fixin to make some pillows, it’s worth getting the box! And opening up the bag of fill and watching it kind of explode is pretty awesome. Okay. Enough about Poly-fil…

Oh, I used about 5 pounds on this pillow if the huge box isn’t your flavor.

As you stuff, test it out a bit. I was packing mine pretty tight and after testing it, I had to unstuff a bit. Mine’s still on the firm side. It’s perfect for me! Once it’s all stuffed, pin the opening shut as best you can. Then use a needle and thread (preferably the same color as your fabric) to sew that last part together.

Using the same color thread is where it’s at, because then you don’t have to worry so much about your stitches. I just used tiny stitches that aren’t very pretty…but you can hardly tell because they blend in pretty darn well.

And wah-la!!!! You’re done!

 

The above picture isn’t a very good representation of size cause I’m standing on my cedar chest (surrounded by…stuff…). But here’s the pillow in action:

Ben plunked Jaeger in there to be his baby belly…

But it I got the vibe he didn’t love it.

Anyhow, super easy project! I spent about 2 hours on it from start to finish. I bought the cheapest fabric I could find and I think I spent about $6 on the 2 yards. I used half the fiber fill ($12) and everything else I had on hand. So I spent $18 on a pregnancy pillow that would normally cost $60!

Definitely worth it! If you’re pregnant, no matter if you make it or buy it, get yourself a pregnancy pillow as soon as possible!