Sew nursing pillow yourself - free instructions with pattern

• material
  • The filling
• preparation
• Sew nursing pillows

Especially at the end of the pregnancy you like to roll from left to right at night and find it difficult to find a comfortable position for the pregnancy belly. With a nursing cushion on the side you can stabilize your sleeping position perfectly and the pressure on the stomach is reduced. In this simple guide, we show you how to sew a nursing pillow.

Even for the first time with a little baby, the pillow is practical: The little treasures lie in it like in a cocoon and can not roll aside. Even when breastfeeding, feeding or just to cuddle: The nursing pillow is for most of a long-standing, faithful companion.

That's why I'd like to show you today how you can sew a great nursing pillow yourself in a few easy steps. I have decided to sew both an inner and an outer pillow with zipper, so that the cover is easy to wash. In addition, the nursing pillow keeps its shape better and you avoid small bumps in the sides.

Difficulty level 2/5
Only the sewing of the zipper is a bit more demanding.

Cost of materials 2/5
about 20 EUR, depending on the filling

Time expenditure 1/5
about 1 - 1.5 h

material

Our nursing pillow also has a thicker body and a pleasant U-shaped fit that can also be straightened out.

• 1 mx 1 m jersey fabric for the inner pillow
• 1 mx 1 m Jerseystoff for the outer cushion or 2 different fabrics, each 0.5 mx 1 m
• Zipper for the outer cushion (between 25 cm - 40 cm)
• Filling cotton from approx. 3-4 pillows
• scissors
• ruler
• our pattern (3 sheets in A3 format)
• about 1.5 hours

The filling

For filling several materials are eligible:

• EPS beads: The small beads with a diameter of about 1mm feel like sand. As a result, they also retain their shape, for example, by pressing a trough into the nursing pillow. A minor disadvantage is that the balls often "rustle" slightly when you move them and that can be annoying at night. Besides, they are not quite cheap.
• Filling wool or pillow filling from the furniture store: I have decided on this variant today. Although the inner life of our nursing pillow is then made of polyester, since we have two layers of fabric with the inner and the outer pillow, this is not disturbing. The advantage is, you can wash the pillow and the price is unbeatable!

preparation

1. First, of course, you need the pattern, so that the inner and outer cushions are the same size and the zipper fits well at the end. You need three sheets of A3 size paper for this size of nursing pillow. Draw hand half a banana (the exact shape is not so specific - the pillow should just have a nice roundish shape like a banana) measuring 55cm x 62cm and 21cm thick on the three side by side leaves, After you have cut out the pattern, you simply stick it together with Tesafilm.

2. Now place the pattern on the left side of the first fabric, with the marked line exactly at the material break. That means the fabric is double. The whole thing we do twice, so we have a top and a bottom of the fabric.

3. We do the same with the outer fabric of our breastfeeding pillow. ATTENTION - here we add a seam allowance of about 1 cm, so that the outer cushion is slightly larger at the end and we have no problems to put the pillows into each other. Again, we need 2x pieces of fabric for the top and bottom. I chose two different fabrics.

4. Now we cut out the fabrics.

Now we should have 4x jersey fabric pieces in two or three different fabrics in front of us.

Sew nursing pillows

1. The sewing together of the inner padding, into which we later add our filling wadding or filler beads, is relatively simple: the two fabric pieces are stacked right to right, so that the edges are flush. The whole thing we now stuck with pins or Wonderclips and can sew almost the entire circumference of the pillow.

This can be done either with the elastic zigzag stitch of the sewing machine or the overlock machine.

ATTENTION - We stop sewing shortly before the end of the round and leave an opening of approx. 10 cm.

2. Through this turnaround, we "feed" our nursing pillows.

Tip: The larger the turning opening, the easier it is to fill.

Be sure to use enough wadding or balls to keep the cushion reasonably stable but still pleasantly soft.

Tip: The "covers" of the cut pillow I would pick up in any case for a later date. As a base for sewing applications or embroidery they are perfect!

Our pillow is already taking shape.

You can see that the nursing pillow has even smaller bulges, which is due to the filling of the pillows. These bulges, however, are no longer visible if we have sewn our outer pillow over it.

3. Now we close the inner pillow by hand with the so-called "mattress stitch". We sting from the inside through the fabric to the outside, switch to the opposite side and stab there again from above into the fabric. With a distance of about 2-3 mm we now sting again from bottom to top, on the other side from top to bottom, etc.

If you pull on the thread slightly, the opening should close nicely and no seam should be visible.

4. Next is our zipper for the outer pillow. To do this, put both jersey fabric pieces on top of each other and put the zipper in the right place. I always take the highest part of the bow here and mark the middle.

5. After we have marked the zipper on the sides of the fabric, we put it on the first side right to the right to the side of the fabric.

Tip: It is important to ensure that the zipper itself - so the teeth - not be sewn. Otherwise, the zipper can not be closed.

6. At the side of the teeth, we now step off the page with the straight stitch. When the zipper of the closure comes in our way, we turn the sewing machine needle into the fabric by handwheel, lift the sewing foot and push the zipper backwards. After lowering the presser foot, it can continue.

Tip: If a zipper presser foot is present, it can be used. This does not "rattle" over the increase in the spikes on the right side.

7. Do the same for the other side of the jersey fabric.

The beginning and the end of the zipper can be stitched again for safety.

8. Now you can put the two fabric sides back on top of each other, poke them and sew them in a zigzag stitch. This time we do not need a turn-around opening - the outer cushion can be turned over with the zipper.

9. After we have turned the pillow, we slide our previously sewn inner pillow in and close the nursing pillow through the zipper.

Voilà - the nursing pillow is ready! ????

The outer cushion can now be removed and washed at any time. Also the inner pillow including filling is washable. However, you should be careful to let the pillow air dry and possibly shake out a little.
Have fun sewing!