An Easy Bolster Pillow Tutorial

An Easy to Make Bolster Pillow for Yoga

I love practicing yoga and have a variety of props to make getting into the poses a bit easier. Due to a hip injury, I have a hard time sitting cross-legged on the floor to meditate. I wanted to buy a pillow to sit on but for the price, I didn’t like any that I saw. I decided to make my own with a cute piece of cotton duck I purchased at the craft store. My easy to make bolster pillow for yoga features a hook and loop closure (no zippers for those who don’t like to sew them!) making the cover easy to remove for laundering!

Materials:

• 1 yard of cotton duck fabric
• 30″ piece of hook & loop tape (<– affiliate link!)
• 14″ x 28″ pillow form
• Quilt or upholstery batting

Fabric Cut List:

• 2 at 13″ x 25″ – Top & Bottom
• 1 at 7″ x 45″ – Gusset*
• 1 at 4-1/2″ x 29″ – Closure Gusset*
• 1 at 5-1/2″ x 29″ – Closure Gusset*

Notes about the project:

The finished pillow measures 24″ long, 12″ wide and 6″ thick. Take a look at this in-depth tutorial in sewing a basic box cushion.

*The fabric may be pieced together in order to obtain the length needed.

Start by washing and drying the cotton duck fabric. This pre-shrinks the fabric so that there will be no “surprises” when it is washed later! Cut the pieces for the closure gusset. On one piece, fold 1″ on one long end to the wrong side. On the other piece, fold 1″ on one long end to the right side. Sew a half of the hook and loop tape over the 1″ hem on each piece (refer to the photo).

Cut the pieces for the gusset, top and bottom. Sew the ends of the closure gusset to the straight gusset using a 1/2″ seam. Press the seam away from the closure gusset and top stitch the seam in place. Mark the center of the closure and the center of the opposite end (the straight gusset).

Cut the pieces for the top and the bottom, and mark the center of the long edges. Match the center of the gusset with the center of the top and bottom pieces, and pin in place. Clip the gusset at the corners as necessary (see photo). Sew the gusset to the top and bottom using a straight stitch with a 1/2″ seam.

Turn the bolster cover right side out. I purchased a 14″ x 28″ pillow form thinking it would fill out the cover when inserted. It didn’t. I wrapped the pillow form with upholstery batting to bulk it up, and it fit perfectly!

The pillow is perfect for my yoga practice! Of course, it can be used for many other applications, too, such as naps… (ha ha!) Have any questions about the easy to make bolster pillow for yoga? Leave a comment below!

Originally posted 2016-09-26 08:00:10.