Make a Pillow Bed for Lazy Summer Days

We are in the last month of summer. I know. I’m already mourning its end. Yes, we are wigging out a bit with being together so much, but oh, summertime is grand. Favorite part? Being outside. Winter is so long so we have to soak up as much of the sun, blue skies and heat as we can. One way to do that is to stretch out on our pillow beds.

Pillow beds  have been on my list for a while and it feels amazing to have finally gotten them accomplished! With Pipsqueak wanting to motor around all by himself, inside or outside, it’s the perfect time to have a nice cushy spot on the floor.

We already love them. Well, first, we loved all the pillows (16!!) and now we love the pillow beds. Wrestling, lounging, stunts, gymnastics, forts. We are short on comfy spots in this rental so we’ve used them anywhere we need them. I hope to make a second set of bed sacks with a warmer, snugglier fabric for winter.

As I’ve said before, sewing is not a strong skill of mine and projects that call for large pieces of fabric make me sweat. However, after I muddled through the first one, figuring things out, the other three were a breeze.

Supplies:

-pillows
-fabric – I used Strawberry Fields & Summery Citrus from Minted
-scissors, measuring tape, pins, thread
-sewing machine

Based on the pillows I purchased, I determined the measurements for the pillow beds would be 24″ wide and 68″ long (4 panels, 17″ tall). The fruity fabric I used was 60″ wide, but the print only 52″. I left the unprinted fabric edge attached as it provided more overlap.

Determine the width and length of your pillow bed according to your fabric and pillows. Choose one long side of the fabric to be the “outside” flap piece and hem it or if it’s a nice selvage edge, just leave it.

With the fabric cut to the right length + 1″, fold it right sides together with the hemmed/selvage edge inside. The two flaps should overlap.

With the fabric folded right sides together, the hemmed edge (or clean selvage edge) tucked inside, use a 1/2″ seam allowance to sew the ends together. This closes the top and bottom of the bed “bag”.

Turn the “bag” right side out and straighten it, making sure the inner flap is straight as well as the outer flap (now the hemmed edge or clean selvage edge). Use a measuring tape to make sure the width stays at 24″. Add pins to hold it straight.

When everything is straight, measure and mark 17″ segments. Once the three lines are properly marked, sew the lines.

Finally, tuck the pillows into the four pockets. Smoosh them around until they lay nicely.

Then hop on, grab a favorite book and relax.

They can be folded and squished to make any position comfy.

Babies and dirty summer feet are welcome.

Fabric for this post graciously provided by Minted.