How to Make a Flanged Throw Pillow

Adding a decorative flange or ruffle to the edge of your pillows is a fun way to mix up the look. These little pillows would be perfect for a living room, bedroom or even outside on your patio. They are a quick and easy DIY project that you can do in just a day to add a little bit of color wherever you need it in your home.

We've shared several projects that we made for the same patio; we recovered bullnose chair cushions, made lumbar pillows and sewed up a bench cushion. For the final finishing touch on this space, we’ve made flanged pillows for a set of sling chairs to keep the colors flowing all around the patio. We’re using an indoor/outdoor fabric with great UV resistance. This is an important factor to consider for outdoor cushions. Sailrite^® stocks hundreds of performance fabrics in every color and style.

1. If using a fabric with a pattern, determine which part of the design you’d like featured in the center of the pillow, if any. Mark the center of this design for patterning reference.

2. Pattern your fabric using the same dimensions as your pillow form. Our form was 18” x 18” so we traced out an 18” x 18” square on the fabric.

3. Cut out your first square and use it to pattern the second panel.

4. Lay your two panels on top of each other with the right sides facing each other so the pattern lines up symmetrically.

5. To make the corners of your pillow fuller, trim a little fabric from each corner. At one corner of your fabric panels, measure down 4” and make a mark. From the corner again, measure over 1/2”. At an angle, draw a line connecting the two marks. Do this for both sides of the corner, then cut along that line. Repeat the process on the opposite corner.

6. Fold over the fabric and use it as a guide to trim the two remaining corners.

7. Pin your two fabric panels together. Take them to your sewing machine and sew around the perimeter of three sides of the pillow. Leave an opening at the bottom of the pillow big enough to insert your pillow form.

8. Trim the excess fabric from each corner.

9. Turn your pillow cover outside right.

10. Carefully work each edge at the seam so it lies as flat as possible.

11. Pin the seams flat and the pieces together around the perimeter of the pillow cover. Take your fabric to the sewing machine and sew 1/2” in from the outer edge of the fabric on three sides. This will create a 1/2” lip around the pillow.

12. Carefully insert your pillow form.

13. Fold under the raw edges on the pillow’s opening and pin a 1/2” in from the folded edge to create the lip along the bottom of the pillow.

14. Using your sewing machine, carefully sew the opening closed.

15. Enjoy your new pillow!