How to Make a Neck Pillow Cover

I have been wanting to do this for some time. I kept telling myself I could make the pattern myself...just draw around the pillow, but I just never got around to it.  Then I stumbled on to this pattern and just said...DO IT! Especially since I use the pillow for traveling all the time now...just without a nice cover on it! So finally just did it!

I did a few adjustments to suit myself and my use of the pillow... Here's what I did slightly different than in the tutorial. I used fleece on one side, and cotton on the other side (the side with the zipper).

I wanted to be able to use the pillow on the fleece side AND the cotton side (fleece to hot in the summertime but so soft to lay on) so I moved the zipper up a little so I wouldn't be laying on the zipper when I used the cotton side.

 It worked okay, but that made it just a bit hard to make a good curve on the top of the pillow. I worked at it and finally got it close as possible and I think when I use the pillow, it will fill out the curves better. I later realized, a zipper is really not needed.  I wash the pillow without the cover on it now by just tossing it in the washer with my bed pillows and it washes just fine, so next one I do, I will probably not use a zipper. In that case you would just whip stitch the seam. 


I did alot of stitch strengthening...I sewed it all in a long stitch so it was easy to rip out until I got the curve formation I wanted. Then once I got the curves right, I stitched over it in regular stitching...then went back and stitched 1/8" out from the seam stitch and then used pinking shears to trim the seam allowance instead of clipping the curves and all.

A little tip on stuffing:  Once you are ready to stuff the pillow into the cover...match the wrong side of the cover to the end of the pillow "arm" end and grab down the pillow "arm"as far as you possibly can...stuff that pillow into your hand and push the cover down and pull the pillow into the cover and then shove the middle in. It will be tight, but just push your hand into the cover and push that pillow where it needs to go. It is pretty easy to work with, and if you have to take the pillow out and correct stitching or curves, it is really easy to pull the pillow in and out of the cover. The point is to get the "arm" completely to the end of the case so there is no empty "case" at the end, the "arm" completely fills the case.

I forgot to put the ribbon loop on mine. I dont' want to take it all apart just to put that on, so I am trying to think of a way to add a loop to carry it with, but if not...no big deal. I got my pillow for about $10 at Bed, Bath and Beyond...one of my favorite stores! The fleece and cotton pieces were in my fabric stash.

Tip on pillow: This pillow is a cotton/poly blend filling. There are those with the beads inside but I don't like those much. I have one and it is fine for holding your head in place, for around town , but not so good for comfort. The beads hold your head in place, but don't give any "cushion" for the roads bumps and car "jiggles". The cotton filled ones...they are soft and offer comfortable cushion so I don't feel the road jiggles and if I want to sleep...no problem, nice and comfy. Also I have noticed that the bead ones...after awhile...they tend to start feeling hard and uncomfortable. I say "buy cotton"!

So if you do alot of traveling as a passenger...I recommend one of these cotton style pillows!

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Thanks for stopping by and...keep on sewing those memories!