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Home » Free Patterns

DIY Travel Pillow {Neck Pillow} - Free Pattern

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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, diy neck pillow
DIY Travel Pillow with Free Travel Pillow Pattern
diy travel pillow, diy neck pillow
DIY Travel Pillow with Free Travel Pillow Pattern

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

supplies
DIY Travel Pillow - Supplies

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 VIDEO

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

travel pillow pattern
DIY Travel Pillow - Stitching

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

DIY Travel Pillow - Turn and Press
DIY Travel Pillow - Turn and Press

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

Ladder Stitch
Ladder 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.

diy travel pillow
DIY Travel Pillow
diy travel pillow, diy neck pillow
DIY Travel Pillow

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.

  1. Pillowcase Pattern
  2. How to Make A Pillowcase (with border)
  3. How to Make a Cushion Cover – Envelope Style
  4. Make a Cushion Cover with Piping
  5. Zippered Cushion Cover
  6. DIY Neck Pillow
  7. DIY Star Pillow
  8. Pom Pom Pillows
  9. Patchwork Cushion
  10. Reading Pillow Pattern
  11. Pillow Patterns
  12. DIY Christmas Pillows
Zipper Cushion
Zipper Cushion
how to make cushion covers
Envelope Pillow
How to Make a Pillowcase
Border Pillowcases
star pillow pattern
Star Pillow Pattern
DIY Travel Pillow

DIY Travel Pillow

4.8/5 - (25 votes)
Print Pin
Difficulty: Easy Beginner
Keyword: Sewing Patterns
Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Tools

  • Sewing Basics Sewing machine, needle, thread, scissors

Materials

  • Fabric ½ yard (0.45m)
  • Polyester Stuffing

Instructions

  • Download the free travel pillow pattern. Cut the fabric.
    DIY Travel Pillow Pattern
  • 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. 
    DIY Travel Pillow Pattern
  • Clip the curves, leaving the gap unclipped. Turn your DIY travel pillow to the right side through the gap.
    DIY Travel Pillow Pattern
  • Give your pillow a good press and start stuffing. Close the gap with an invisible ladder stitch. 
    diy travel pillow, diy neck pillow
4.8/5 - (25 votes)

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Treasurie

    March 12, 2023 at 11:27 pm

    Hi Beth, the gap works anywhere. I did it on the side as the seam is a little straighter so easier to close up at the end. Thanks for reading.

  2. Beth

    March 07, 2023 at 5:02 pm

    I'm in the process of making a neck pillow using your pattern. Thanks for the excellent instructions. I have a question. Is there any reason not to make the closure spot at the back of the pattern instead of on the side? I'm thinking that it might be easier to stuff from the back as well as easier sewing it closed since it seems like the curve is a bit flatter at the back. Your thoughts? Again thanks for making the pattern available and for the detailed instructions.

  3. Tia

    February 03, 2023 at 6:43 pm

    I just made this pillow - ultra easy! The stuffing was the biggest portion of the half hour duration! Lol! Thank-you for the pattern! Ooh! And I put a fabric loop on the back part so I can hook it on the tv tray latch on the plane 😉 or on a carabiner for on my carry on.

  4. Violet Raven

    December 29, 2022 at 7:35 pm

    I made this for my grandma for Christmas, and she absolutely loved it!!

  5. Treasurie

    March 01, 2021 at 3:16 am

    You can print the pattern and scale it down on your printer. Try 80% reduction.

  6. Nikki

    February 12, 2021 at 8:32 am

    Thank you for this pattern and tutorial! Do you think you'll have a pattern for child size anytime soon?

  7. Treasurie

    December 20, 2020 at 3:41 am

    Hi Beverly, there is a link in the article above for the printable pdf. Thanks for reading.

  8. Beverly Comley

    December 18, 2020 at 9:41 pm

    how do i get your pattern

  9. Treasurie

    September 14, 2020 at 9:44 pm

    It is 3/8 inch (1cm) or the dotted line on the pattern

  10. Stacey jeansonne

    September 14, 2020 at 9:41 pm

    Could you please tell me the seam allowance? Thank you

  11. SewCool

    August 16, 2020 at 10:19 pm

    I used fabric of dogs in sweaters, very cute!

  12. SewCool

    August 16, 2020 at 10:17 pm

    This is very cute! I am planning to make them for my family as Christmas presents. However, thick thread will work much better than thin.

  13. Treasurie

    November 14, 2019 at 7:59 pm

    I'm sure they will love that you made it for them.

  14. silvia ram

    November 14, 2019 at 3:02 pm

    My grandchildren often travel to visit us. I wanted to give them a personalized DIY gift to welcome them. I hope they will enjoy the pillows on the trip back. Thank you for the pattern and the video..

  15. Treasurie

    November 04, 2019 at 7:26 pm

    Hi Diana, I appreciate the suggestion. I'll look into that.

  16. DiAnna

    November 03, 2019 at 11:00 pm

    I’m not able to print this from my phone. If you could add a print button it would greatly appreciated.

  17. nanawhatsnanamakingcom

    June 13, 2019 at 2:06 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing this. It is awesome which is why I featured it in my 10 awesome travel accessories post which you can check out here https://whatsnanamaking.com/travel-accessories-to-sew/ Beautiful fabric BTW

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