Neck Pillow Tutorial

As you may know we're off to Canada again this year. That's the great news. The not-great news is that we'll be in transit for over 50 hours non-stop on the way there! We've never had neck pillows before so I asked friends what they thought of them and they gave them a big thumbs up, Natalie suggested I make my own so I looked on-line and saw how very simple they are. Mum has an inflatable one so I used that to make my pattern from newspaper...draw around your template if you can borrow one, add 1/4 inch seam allowance...

fold the pattern and the fabric and pin the pattern to the fabric on the fold....this ensures both sides are the same...cut two pieces...

Pin back and front together with right sides facing...

Genius struck at this point and I cut the clip off an old lanyard so that I can attach it to my carry-on bag...

stitch the sides together using very small stitches for extra strength, I went over the lanyard 3 times to secure it firmly...leave a space as big as your hand to turn it right side out and stuff it very firmly...

  I took time out to introduce Twitch to a toy beaver, he couldn't have cared less!

Stitch up the opening and stand back and admire...

It was sheer chance and luck that my fabric pattern is the same on both legs/sides but something to consider when you pin the pattern to the fabric. This gorgeous material is a reproduction of one in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, I love the Edwardian look of it.

I used polyester stuffing but instead of buying toy stuffing I buy a pillow for $5 from Spotlight and get much more for much less! So we now each have a comfy neck pillow for $0 as I already had all the things I used, they were on sale for $14 each at the shopping centre and covered with some nasty nylon/synthetic material.
I saw that some people had made smaller ones for their children who tend to nod off on car drives, lovely idea.

We have a 12 hour wait at San Francisco airport for the flight to Montreal. I've checked on-line for information about the airport and they offer showers for $8 each and then we'll have to find a quiet corner to rest on the lightweight shawls I plan to carry. I do feel better for having a plan and pillow now lol! I also hope that we will see the Golden Gate Bridge from the plane.

Thank you all for your kind wishes for Jessie yesterday. Lynda thank you too for your thoughts about my "diary"...it really is my gift to my family and I do hope they will look at in years to come and know they were much loved and also see a little about me that perhaps they had forgotten or never knew.

Bye bye for now,
Love from Sue
xx

If you're unable to get something to draw around to make your pattern I will post one to you!