DIY Seed and Bean Bag Pillows

Randall once did a pillow count between our house and the cottage and I’ll admit, the number was a little absurd.  I can’t help myself, I just love pillows!!  I spotted a pile of feed/seed/bean bags at one of our favourite vendors at the annual antique show the family goes to in Michigan and immediately knew it wanted to turn them into pillows for the cottage!  I had a hard time choosing but eventually settled on these 2 (Randall imposed limit) because I loved the graphics on them. So, on a chill day at the cottage my Ma and I got to work.  She is an amazing seamstress and I wanted her consultation and expertise before I started.  Plus I love working on projects together.  Here’s how we made these 2 super cute pillows!

Battleship Navy Beans Pillow

1. To start, I measured the pillow and found a pre-made pillow form that would fit the size I was going for. This pillow was a little longer than I wanted, so I decided to cut the bottom off and use it to add some decorative bows.

2. I cut off the bottom where I wanted the new bottom of my pillow to be, which was about 6 inches up. I left an extra inch on the bag for seam allowance.

3. I took that cut-off part and opened it up so it extended twice as long. From there I cut 2, 2 inch wide strips of fabric for the bows.

4. I then folded each side of that strip into the middle (the strip is now 1 inch) and pinned the entire length for extra security. Then ironed the strip flat. Ironing is key so don’t skip this step! I will really help when you go to stitch the strip up.

5. I then took that strip, pulled the pins out and folded it in half. I re-pinned that now 1/2 inch strip and ironed it. I ran it through the machine easy, breezy. It was really easy to sew as it was already flat and crisp from the ironing.

6. I repeated the above steps with the second strip. 

7. I wanted to use the little ‘stamp’ on the top of this pillow so I cut it out very carefully. I then folded back a tiny bit of the edges, pinned, then ironed, before sewing this patch on the back of the pillow.

8. Next I stuffed the pillow with the form and basted the top, before sewing it up on the machine, really closely to the edge. I made the bows by pinning the centre of the strip on the pillow where I wanted them to be. I tied the bow, hand-stitched it on, and voila! Pillow number one! Super happy with how cute it turned out!!

Pioneer Corn Seed Pillow

1. For this one, I didn’t want to remove too much of the length so again I found a pillow form that was right size. I wanted to make sure I still got to see the little hand pointing in the top right corner. It reads ‘unravel this side only’ and it still had the original little pull string so i wanted to keep that detail!

2. I stuffed the pillow, then created this little fold/flap to make it kind of look like an envelope. The pillow form size I chose left me just enough room to make this happen.

3. Before I sewed it shut I sewed on these wooden red buttons. I love the way they pop and compliment the graphic on the front. After the buttons were on, I hand-stitched the pillow shut.  Done and done and so cute!

I’m know it’s weird, but I’m actually obsessed with these pillows! I love that it was a project I got to work on with my Ma. I love that we found them on a family adventure all together. And I love that they are one-of-a-kind and have special memories attached to them.