How to Make a Pillow With Zipper & Piping

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If you want to step up your pillow game, here’s a fun DIY that’s more adventurous than a basic pillow cover. Today’s video tutorial will show you how to make a pillow cover with piping and a zipper closure. Though this design is slightly more complicated and involved than a simple pillow cover, our video walks you through the entire DIY process. You’ll be able to follow along and successfully make your own great-looking pillow cover. Let’s get started on today’s fun pillow project.

Video Chapters:

Intro - 0:00 min.
Measuring & Patterning — 0:35 min.
Making Piping — 4:08 min.
Basting Piping — 7:10 min.
Sewing Zipper — 10:23 min.
Sewing Plates Together — 16:47 min.
Inserting Pillow Form — 20:15 min.

Materials List:

Outdura® Upholstery fabric — We used Sydney Oats 54" Upholstery Fabric (6932) #125549
Indoor/Outdoor Square Pillow Insert 18" x 18" #122148
Coats & Clark™ Extra Strong® Tex 70 Hemp Nylon Upholstery Thread (150 yds.) #104817
Lenzip® #2 White Continuous Coil Zipper Chain #126079
Lenzip® #2 White Style A Single Locking Metal Zipper Pull (Coil Chain) #126084
Seamstick 1/4" Basting Tape for Canvas & Upholstery (36 yds.) #122065
Foam Piping/Welting Cord 5/32" #122259

Tools List:

Deluxe Tape Measure 120" #123120
Sailrite® Edge Cordless Hotknife 18V Package #122177
Sailrite® Clear Acrylic Ruler 6" x 24" #102400
Scribe-All® Black Marking Pencil for Vinyl #121977
Precision Cutting Blade & Foot for Edge Hotknife #125495
Sailrite® Ultrafeed® LSZ Walking Foot Sewing Machine (110V) #311602
Sailrite® Ultrafeed® Industrial Sewing Table #120934
Gingher® 8" Scissors Right Handed #19104
Thread Snips

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We chose Outdura® upholstery fabric for our pillow cover. Outdura is an indoor/outdoor performance fabric brand. These 100% solution-dyed acrylic fabrics feature outstanding UV, water and stain resistance. With colors that won’t fade and impressive abrasion resistance, Outdura fabrics are ideal for marine, patio and living room upholstery and cushion projects. With hundreds of colors and patterns to explore, we have an Outdura fabric perfect for your living space.

The special trick that takes this pillow from plain to professional is the hidden zipper sewn right next to the piping. This results in a beautiful reversible pillow with a zipper that is nearly invisible. Even if you’ve never sewn this type of pillow before, our step-by-step tutorial walks you through the entire process. Even novice sewers will be able to follow along and create a pillow cover to be proud of.

If you’re making a pillow for your boat or patio — or anywhere that might experience moisture or humidity — we recommend using an indoor/outdoor pillow form. The pillow forms we stock at Sailrite are all water-resistant, indoor/outdoor pillow forms. They are made with a garnetted fiber, which is a material stuffed into the pillow and processed in a way that ensures the pillows have more body, less compression over time and higher overall quality.

X Ht 300769 3 — Here's a closeup of the hidden zipper closure right below the piping.

We hope you enjoyed this advanced pillow tutorial. If you’re looking for more pillow and cushion projects, check out our roundup of relevant blogs and tutorials here.

Tag us on social using #Sailrite so we can see your pillow projects! We love seeing all the creative and unique DIYs our talented customers make.