I needed to make a couple pillows this month and stopped into JoAnne's to check on pillow forms which I discovered are shockingly expensive. I think I knew that but I haven't made any pillows for some time. I decided to make my own forms which I think worked well and thought I'd share the method with you.

I cut the outer shell of the form from leftover Hobbs 80/20 batting for one and from leftover fleece backing for another. I decided on my size and cut the pieces 1 inch bigger than I wanted. so for a 20 inch square pillow, I cut the batting/fleece 21 inches square. Using a half inch seam allowance, I sewed around three sides plus a bit of the fourth side, leaving an open slit in the middle of the fourth side. Then I turned the pillow form, pushing out the corners. Both fabrics worked well as outer shells and I am sure that leftover pieces of muslin and other fabrics would do as well.

Now for the stuffing-- I always have pieces of leftover polyester batting. I attacked it with my rotary cutter, being careful not to cut myself, until I had strips about one inch wide. Then I attacked it again until I had pieces about one inch by three inches. There was no measuring to this; I just chopped at it until it was usable as stuffing.

I stuffed my pillow form until it was the firmness I wanted, being sure to shove the stuffing into the corners. I folded the open slit edges in and pinned them. Since no one is really going to look at these seams, I finished the form by machine; sewing all around about a quarter inch in so that I could close the open slit and also reinforce the other seams.

These forms are totally washable and can be made to any size and firmness! The process took me about a half hour for one and it was free! Just wanted to share.