How to Sew a Round Pillow | Easy DIY Throw Pillow Project

Let’s take a little break from chatting about the house exterior renovation so I can show you how to sew a round pillow – it’s such an easy DIY throw pillow project!  My DIY mix and match velvet pillows were a hit on Instagram and some eagle eyed readers noticed that the little round velvet pillow matched.  I used the leftover fabric from my teal velvet garbage chair for some of the pillows but because I had tried a (failed) matching ottoman project first, I had a weird circle of fabric leftover too.  I didn’t want to waste it, so I whipped up an easy little round pillow – no zipper, nothing fancy, and just stuffed with leftover batting.  A super quick little sewing project.  I’ll show you how to sew a round pillow in this post, with some tips for how to keep it round.

Supplies:

1. Teal velvet fabric – or any fabric of your choice
2. Needle, pins, thread, scissors
3. Sewing machine
4. Poly-fill Premium Fiber (or just a round pillow form)

How to Sew a Round Pillow:

First cut out two circles – any size! – but remember to leave a seam allowance.  With the two circles cut out, I place them good sides facing together and pinned them together.  Because velvet has a tendency to slide around, and I didn’t want to lose the round shape while sewing, I quickly basted the fabric.  I actually created a little guide with my basting so I would know where to sew.  This step is optional – I’ve sewn a circle with and without this step – but this does help prevent any flat areas.

I stopped my hand stitched guide and left a small opening:

Using my sewing machine, I slowly sewed the circle by following my guide – remembering to leave the bottom open!   Thanks to my basted guide, keeping the round shape was easy.

With the pillow seam stitched, I created another hand stitched guide along the opening so when I sewed that closed later, I didn’t accidentally sew a flat bottom!  Then I trimmed the excess fabric.

After trimming the excess fabric, I cut little notches along the edge which help reduce the fabric bulk in the seam.   I used this trick for my round DIY pot holder too!

Then I turned the round pillow right side out, stuffed with Poly-Fill, and hand stitched it closed.  I had Poly-Fill on hand and used up everything leftover from another project.  If I had bought some, I would have opted for a larger bag because the round pillow ended up a little less dense and full than I would like – but still super cute!  You could also sew a pom pom trim along the edge (here’s my tutorial for that) or anchor the centre with a self covered shank button on each side for a little vintage inspired tufting.  And that’s how to sew a round pillow! 

Looking for more DIY pillow ideas?

Check out these tutorials for: how to sew a pillow with a zipper, how to make a gathered silk pillow, or how to to make a simple doily applique pillow.  Happy sewing!