How To Make The Easiest Throw Pillows – Repurpose Placemats Into Pillows

Have you ever spotted beautiful place mats in the store and wished you had a reason to buy them.  Grab those place mats because they make beautiful throw pillows that take minutes to make!   These are seriously the easiest pillows you can possibly make.

I have had these place mats in our cupboards for about 5 years.  I got them because I thought they where pretty, but we honestly never once used them.  With a two and four year old in the house, if I did put them on the table, I found myself picking them up off the floor thirty times a day.  They are just to pretty to actually use at dinner time.  The don’t deserve to be covered in tomato soup.  I was cleaning out my cabinets this week and decide it was time to make these into something that we could use – throw pillows!

Here is what you need:

• Reversible or double sided place mats (as many as you would like pillows)
• Fiberfill Stuffing
• Seam Rippers
• Sewing Machine and thread or needle and thread
• 4 Pins

This is so simple you have to try this.  Make sure you are using place mats that are double sided.  Mine are reversible and have two different patterns.  This will not work if the place mats aren’t double sided.  Here is how to turn that place mat into a pillow.

Take a seam ripper and open the seam of the place mat on one side about 4 inches (big enough for you to put the stuffing in).  My mats had a tag on them so I pulled the seam apart where the tag was sewed in to get rid of it.

Use your fiberfill to stuff the pillows to you liking.  I had one large bag that I was able to fill all four pillows with and still have some left.  Now, all you need to do is close the seam back up and you are all done.  These take about 5 minutes to make from start to finish if you are using a sewing machine.  So fast and so simple.  You could totally  do this by hand if you don’t have a sewing machine too.

Push all of your stuffing to one side of the pillow – this makes it much easier to pin the hem back together in a nice straight line.

Now just sew the opening that you made back together.  Use  the same color thread that your place mat already has so that it blends right in.  You can literally just follow the stitch that is already on the place mat.  Make sure you back stitch to secure, and remove your pins.  Done!  Now fluff your pillow so the stuffing is evened out and put your beautiful new 5 minute throw pillows out to enjoy.

I absolutely adore the off white side of these.  It has a little lace trim that is so simple and pretty.  These are a great size for the couch, a bench, the bed, a chair, or a bed as decorative pillows.

If you have a hard time finding throw pillows that match your decor and that you really love – check the dinning section for place mats  next time you are shopping. I promise this is as easy as it looks.