No-Sew DIY Boho Pillows

I’ve admitted this before, but I’ll go ahead and admit it again…

I have a pillow problem.

Sadly, not even traveling in an RV could keep my obsession at bay. At least now I make sure every pillow I buy has a zipper so I can easily switch out the covers without hoarding pillow inserts too.

When we built our sofa for the RV last April I was on the hunt for the perfect pillows. We were already drowning in projects so I planned to buy throw pillows and leave it at that.

At the time I really wanted something more boho with natural colors and textures. I spent a few weeks searching online and in just about every local HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, Marshall’s, etc. but wasn’t finding what I wanted, at a price I was willing to fork over.

So ultimately I decided just to make my own pillows, which you may have seen if you follow us on Instagram. This way I could save some money and add the texture and color I wanted.

Literally one week later I found about a dozen pillows I wanted at just about every home decor store I walked into. Does this ever happen to you? I feel like it happens to me more than I’d like to admit. Haha.

A lot of those pillows didn’t have zippers though, and I wanted the option to switch out the covers without carrying a zillion pillow inserts in our RV. So you could say I’m still happy I made these boho pillows.

If you’re pillow obsessed like me or you’re just looking to spruce up your home with pillows that require NO SEWING (unless you want to), then these DIY boho pillows may be just what you need. Besides, this is such an easy project you can do it watching TV. Seriously, anyone can make these DIY boho pillows.

DIY Boho Pillows

Sewing is not one of my strong suits, not even close so I was going to buy a couple of linen pillow covers and then add the embellishments to those. When my mom heard this she offered to make me a couple of pillow covers (thanks mom!), and I was lucky enough to find natural white linen fabric and zippers on sale for SUPER cheap.

So…I kinda feel like I cheated, but if you can’t or don’t want to actually sew a pillow cover, you can just buy them, as I had planned on doing 🙂

If the pillow cover is your canvas, then the embellishments are your paint.

If you’re looking for plain pillow covers, I recently purchased a couple of these linen pillow covers from Amazon, and think they’re pretty decent for the price. I know Hobby Lobby also sells zippered pillow covers for about $5, or even less with a coupon. I’ve had a few of those zippers break in the past though, like when I was re-stuffing my painted kilim pillow.

• Pillow Covers
• Pillow Inserts
• Trim/Fringe/PomPoms/Tassels
• Liquid Stitch

---

Here’s the deal, my computer crashed last May and I lost A LOT of photos, including the ones I took of these pillows. Luckily I was able to find a couple on my phone, so I’ll warn you that a couple of photos are a bit rough.

Also, the photo below is actually just one of my white linen pillow inserts upside down, one of the flax linen pillow covers I recently purchased (I haven’t added anything to this one), and then an extra placemat I purchased (I bought two but only turned one into a pillow).

Once you have your plain pillow covers, all you need are some embellishments like trim fringe and some liquid stitch. Or if you find a placemat you really like you could even use that.

I picked up a few different trim/tassel fringe options at Hobby Lobby, but you can find trim online or at any fabric/craft shop. If you look close you can see very faint paint splatter on my hand, haha. #DIYLife

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what “design” I was going to do when I bought the trim. I had some ideas in mind but kind of just played around with the trim when I brought it home.

I then measured and cut the trim and glued it to my pillow insert with liquid stitch.

Make sure you put something inside the pillow cover, like a piece of cardboard, to prevent the glue from sticking to the other end of the pillow.

Again, this is where my photos are lacking due to my computer crashing, but you just cut your trim and glue it onto your pillow with liquid stitch and then let it dry. That’s it! See, I told you it was easy. And if you’re wondering how the liquid stitch holds up, I’m a fan. I’ve been using it for a couple of years now and I think it works great. These specific pillows were made nearly 7 months ago and are holding up pretty good. I’d recommend spot cleaning them though.

Placemat Pillows

The smaller rectangular pillow is actually created from a Target placemat, and it’s Kobe’s favorite.

I’ve created placemat pillows numerous times, and the placemats from Target, HomeGoods, and World Market are my favorite. In fact, I still glance at the placemats and napkins every time I walk into a home decor store. It’s almost unhealthy. Luckily I browse more than I buy.

You can see how I made holiday pillows from placemats here, and the trick is finding the placemats that are made out of two separate pieces of fabric so that you can basically unravel some of the stitching and then put a pillow insert inside. You can then use liquid stitch to close the seams back up, or if you want to get crazy you can add a zipper, which is what my mom did for me.

These DIY boho pillows are not only easy to make, but they’re a fun way to add texture to your home. I hope you feel inspired to make your own!

Have you made your own boho-inspired pillows? Or do you have a favorite place to buy pillow covers or trim? If so I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.