DIY and Crafts: How to Sew a Reading Pocket Pillow

How to Sew a Reading Pocket Pillow

Today is my turn on the Wistful Winds blog tour. I’m sharing with you an “oldie but a goodie”, this tutorial teaching you how to sew a reading pillow! If you like this project you may also like this Giant Pillow Cover Sewing Tutorial.

How to sew a personalized reading pillow with a pocket and handle - free sewing pattern and tutorial on polkadotchair.com

You can now purchase a PRINTABLE PDF Copy of this pattern bundled with 2 of our most popular pillow patterns!

A few years (actually I checked it was 6 years ago, where does the time go?) I made a reading pillow for my nephew for Christmas. I gifted it to him with a few of my favorite books and a flashlight so that he could “sneak” in a bit of reading after the lights were out.

Since then I’ve made a few more reading pillows, they make great gifts and can be easily personalized using the recipients favorite fabrics or colors. If you’re looking for a fun handmade gift for the upcoming holidays, you might want to consider this project.

Photos from the Riley Blake booth at Spring Quilt market, lots of cute sewing and quilting projects using Wonderland Fabric

Shari Butler of Doohikey Designs created an absolutely dreamy fabric line called Wistful Winds, that is now available through Riley Blake Designs. I spoke to her about it at Quilt Market since we were “booth buddies”. While there she told me some of the story behind this fabric line. I loved the fabric before, but when I heard her speak about it with so much emotion, I loved it even more.

For my turn on the Blog Hop, I figured it was high time that I made a pillow for my niece, since I gift one to her brother so many years ago. Unfortunately, posting this today means that I’ve spoiled a Christmas gift, but I’m pretty sure my 5 year old niece doesn’t read my blog *wink*.

To make the pillow I followed my Reading Pillow Tutorial with only a few changes. I created custom piping for the edge of the pillow using the bias stripe fabric in the line and I changed READ to RUBY.

If you’d like to know how to make the piping you can CLICK here. I used pre-made piping and covered it with fabric, which saved me a bunch of time.

The RUBY is cut from iron on vinyl using my Cricut machine. You could also create a custom applique with felt or fabric. If you have an embroidery machine you could also personalize the pillow that way.

To see all of the great projects shared as a part of the Wistful Winds Blog Hop, just click on the links below. It is the last day of the hop so all of the projects are live as of today.

October 3rd: Amy Sinibaldi – www.nanaCompany.typepad.com

Kristyne Czepuryk – www.prettybyhand.com

4th: Amanda Niederhauser – www.jedicraftgirl.com

Amy Smart – www.diaryofaquilter.com

5th: Meagan Taylor/Kristi Jones – www.meagsandme.com

Christine Cook – www.stitchingrevival.com

6th: Elea Lutz – www.elealutzdesign.com

Jodie Carleton – www.vintagericrac.blogspot.com

7th: Seder Imer – www.downgrapevinelane.com

Jina Barney – jinabarneydesignz.com

10th: Elizabeth Evans – www.simplesimonandco.com

Kimberly Bourne – www.mainstreetmarketdesigns.com

11th: Jemima Flendt – www.tiedwitharibbon.com

Nadra Ridgeway – www.ellisandhiggs.com

Amy Chappel – www.amerooniedesigns.blogspot.com

12th Katie Skoog – www.thesimplelifecompany.com