DIY Neck Pillow

Since living in South Carolina, I've had to do a lot more traveling and flying to see family. I never used to have a neck pillow, but the more flying I did, the more I really wanted one. It's just so hard to get comfortable on a plane, and you can get sooo sore afterwards! I looked into buying one and they weren't that expensive, I just felt like I could make one a little cheaper and then I could also have more say of what it looked like. I went to Pinterest to look up directions on how to make my own travel neck pillow, and found this one. You can find the pattern here.

I made a couple different ones, actually. I started out with one for myself and because it was so comfortable and soft, Ross asked me to make one for him as well! The one I'm making in this post is going to be a gift for a family member who has neck problems.

Starting with fabric, I chose Soft N Comfy fabric from Joann's. It's technically a baby fabric, but it's so soft and that's really what you want when traveling! For the one in this post, I used that for the backing and then used some cotton fabric I had leftover from some curtains I made a while back. The pattern I followed calls for 1/2 yard of fabric total and this is the perfect amount.

After you cut out your pattern, fold your fabric in half with the selvages together. Pin the pattern down, and cut it out. You do this twice - once for each side of the pillow.

Pin both pieces of fabric RIGHT sides together. Leave a gap at the top (where there are 2 pink pins together) - you need this hole to add the stuffing. Start at one side of the gap and sew all the way around. Turn inside out so the right side is out and stuff. I find that it's easier to stuff it a little firmer than you may normally like it because it will soften up as you use it. If you stuff it a little more now, you won't have to restuff it anytime soon. Once you're done stuffing, slip stitch the gap closed. You're now done and can enjoy your pillow! You don't even have to use this just when you're traveling! Ross loves to use his when he sits in his comfy chair :) Hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial and try it out! It's really easy and fast to make - it probably took me 30 minutes and I hand stitched!

#travel #neckpillow #diy