Body Pillow Cover That's Actually Cute? You Can Make That!

Do you use a body pillow? I can’t sleep without one. I used to be able to, but over the years my joints have started to require that extra support as I snooze. While my wife fortunately doesn’t mind me cuddling something else all night long, I am miffed at the lack of options when it comes to shopping for a body pillow cover. Because of this, I’ve always made my own. Usually I just make them from an old sheet, but decided to make a fancier one for this newest body pillow I bought (body pillows are on back-to-school sale right now, just FYI!). If you can sew a straight line on a sewing machine, then you can make a body pillow cover of your own.

This is the first time I’ve added tassels to a body pillow cover I’ve made, and it’s been a little bit of an adjustment in use. If you are particular about texture as you sleep, you can opt to forgo the fringe.

Materials

Fabric* (54″ width) measuring 1 yard and 6 inches (fabric pictured can be found here)
Matching thread
Fringe, measuring 1 yard and 6 inches
Velcro
Sewing machine and notions
Iron and ironing surface

*When picking fabric for your body pillow cover, be sure to pick something you’ll want to sleep on! Don’t pick anything overly scratchy, or beading or raised design work. Try soft cottons or linen, and use non-stretch fabric.

Step

Begin by measuring your body pillow, noting the width and length. If your pillow is new, the measurements will most likely be 50 x 20 inches. If your pillow has been slept on for a while now, it’s shape may have changed, and it might be smaller.

Once you’ve determined the width and length of your cushion, you can determine how large your fabric should be. Here’s the breakdown:

The long measurement of your fabric is the length of your pillow plus 4 inches. For example, my pillow is 50 inches long, so my fabric is 54 inches long.
The short measurement of your fabric is the width of your pillow, multiplied by two, plus two inches. For example, my pillow is 20 inches wide, times two is 40, plus four is 42.

Cut your fabric according to these measurements. For reference, I cut a 54 x 42 inch piece of cloth.

Step

Take your fabric over to your ironing board, and fold the fabric in half lengthwise. Iron the fold flat. Unfold the fabric, and on the short sides, fold 1/2 inch of the fabric over, and iron flat. Do this on both short sides of the fabric, giving yourself an ironed hemline on the top and bottom of your rectangle of fabric.

If you looking at your fabric like a book, imagine the spine of that book is the middle fold of the fabric. With the spine going vertically, you’re going to pin trim to the top and bottom of the right page of this book. Cut your fringe in half so you have two pieces, and pin one to the bottom and one to the top. Lay the fringe over the ironed hem, and pin in place. To avoid fraying, you can fold the ends of the fringe underneath itself.

Take your fabric to your sewing machine, and use a straight stitch to sew across the fringe. Do this for both pieces of fringe.

Step

Now to add some Velcro to one side of the body pillow cover. When I’m using Velcro, I like to use the kind with a sticky back. That way I don’t have to pin anything, but I still stitch across the Velcro for added support.

Attach one side of the Velcro to the right page of the “book.” Attach the opposite Velcro piece to the left page of the “book.” Take your fabric over to your sewing machine, and use a straight stitch to sew around the perimeter of the pieces of Velcro.

Step

Almost done! Fold your fabric in half lengthwise (along the ironed crease created in step 2), wrong side out. Pin the long side of the body pillow case together. Use a straight stitch to sew the long side shut. Turn the pillowcase right-side out. Pin along the short side without Velcro. Use a straight stitch to sew down the short side, closing the pillow on that end. And you’re done!

Now you just have to wrestle the body pillow cover onto the actual cushion itself. This is arguably the most awkward pillowcase to put on a pillow, in my opinion. My advice? Turn the pillowcase inside out first, then with your hands inside the case, grab the pillow and turn the case right-side out over the pillow. Works like a charm.

My cat is particularly fond of this new pillow. She, like most cats, loves pillows. She enjoys anything soft to sleep on. I also think she has some sort of radar for dark-colored materials, because she knows how much I hate it when she gets her cat hair all over them. I guess that’s what lint rollers are for.