DIY Travel Pillow {Neck Pillow} - Free Pattern

Are you planning a plane trip or long car ride? Make yourself a soft, comfortable DIY travel pillow to make your journey enjoyable and memorable. These neck pillows can be made in under 30 minutes and are a great beginner sewing project. DIY travel pillows are great to give for gifts and can be made in colorful fabrics that coordinate with luggage.

DIY Travel Pillow - Supplies

• FABRIC - ½ yard (0.45m) of cotton fabric - Choose a soft fabric that will breathe and not make you sweat. I used a soft quilting cotton. Since this will be next to your face, make sure you prewash the fabric before you start sewing. This will eliminate shrinkage and remove any chemicals the manufacturer may have added.
• STUFFING - Polyester stuffing is best. This is the kind you use for stuffed toys.
• SEWING MACHINE
• NEEDLE - Hand needle and thread
• PATTERN - Your DIY travel pillow pattern. Download the free pattern. (Link will open in a new window). Just trim the boxes and stick the 2 pages together.

>> Download the free pattern

DIY Travel Pillow - The Video

Hooray! There is a video to go with this tutorial. Like all my videos, it is just a few minutes long, so grab a piece of chocolate and relax for a short while. Don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more weekly videos.

>> PRESS PLAY BELOW

DIY Travel Pillow - Instructions

Step 1 - Cut Fabric

Place your pattern on the fold of your fabric and cut 2 pieces. One will be for the front and the other for the back. If you have larger scrap pieces use one color for the front and another for the back

Step 2 - Stitch

Put the fabric pieces with right sides together and stitch all the way around, leaving a 1 ½ inch (4cm) gap on the outside as shown. Use smaller straight stitches. I recommend using a 2.0 length. If you are new to sewing curves then read my article >> Sewing Curves

Step 3 - Clip and Turn

Clip the curves, leaving the gap unclipped. Turn your DIY travel pillow to the right side through the gap.

Further Reading: Sewing Clipping

Step 4 - Stuffing

Give your pillow a good press and start stuffing. I made mine fairly hard but you can stuff it as much or little as you find comfortable. Keep in mind, the stuffing will squash down once you put your head on it.

Step 5 - Stitch Gap

Close the gap with an invisible ladder stitch. This stitch goes through the fold and if you use a matching color thread, it will almost be unnoticeable.

Further Reading: How to Sew an Invisible Stitch

DIY Travel Pillow - In Conclusion

Your DIY travel pillow is all ready for a trip! I hope you are going somewhere exciting and have an amazing time.

More Pillow Tutorials

If you enjoyed this DIY travel pillow tutorial, you might like to sew some more pillows and cushions. Transform your house with some bright fabrics.

• How to Make a Pillowcase with a French Seam
• How to Make a Cushion Cover – Envelope Style
• How to Make a Doll Pillowcase
• Make a Cushion Cover with Piping
• Zippered Cushion Cover
• DIY Neck Pillow
• DIY Star Pillow
• Pom Pom Pillows