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    Home » Sewing

    Hit the Open Road Pillow Sewing Tutorial

    Updated: May 24, 2019 by Melissa Mortenson · This post may contain affiliate links · This blog generates income via ads ·

    Below you will find a free pillow sewing tutorial for my Hit the Open Road Pillow, it a perfect pillow to decorate your RV and part of my #goRVing blog project. To read about our experiences with our RV CLICK HERE.

    Free tutorial for a Hit the Open Road pillow, a fun DIY project for an RV or camper. Plus why our family loves to "Go RV'ing" - a pillow sewing tutorial (includes the templates for the letters)

    Hit the Open Road Pillow Pattern & Tutorial:

    Open Road Pillow Supplies:

    20″ Pillow Form

    Scraps of Fabric

    Heat N Bond Lite

    Lightbox or Bright Window

    Pencil

    21″ long (or longer) polyester zipper

    ¼ yard of fabric for pillow binding

    20″ x 20″ piece of fabric for pillow front

    2 pieces of fabric each 20″ x 11″ for pillow back

    Template for letters; Download it for free on the TEMPLATES PAGE.

    OPTIONAL: If you’d like to make this project a no-sew project, purchase an already sewn 20″ pillow cover and 20″ pillow insert. You will also need to purchase Heat N Bond Ultra Hold instead of Lite. If you choose to do this, just skip the portion of the tutorial where the letters are stitched down.

    Free tutorial for a Hit the Open Road pillow, a fun DIY project for an RV or camper. Plus why our family loves to "Go RV'ing"

    STEP 1:

    Download and print out the letter template onto plain paper. Make sure your settings in Acrobat are “actual size” and not “fit to page”.

    With the paper upside down (so the letters are reversed) trace the letters onto the paper side of the Heat N Bond Lite.

    Cut out loosely around the letters.

    Free tutorial for a Hit the Open Road pillow, a fun DIY project for an RV or camper. Plus why our family loves to "Go RV'ing"

    STEP 2:

    Using an iron, press each letter onto the wrong side of a scrap of fabric.

    Cut out precisely.

    Free tutorial for a Hit the Open Road pillow, a fun DIY project for an RV or camper. Plus why our family loves to "Go RV'ing"

    STEP 3:

    Peel off the backs of the letters and begin to lay them out on your pillow front piece. I find it helpful to mark the center of the pillow both horizontally and vertically before I lay out the letters.

    Free tutorial for a Hit the Open Road pillow, a fun DIY project for an RV or camper. Plus why our family loves to "Go RV'ing"

    Once you have the letters in the correct spots, use your iron to secure them in place.

    Free tutorial for a Hit the Open Road pillow, a fun DIY project for an RV or camper. Plus why our family loves to "Go RV'ing"

    STEP 4:

    Using a straight stitch on your sewing machine, stitch around the perimeter of each letter. Make sure that you pivot at all of the corners.

     

    STEP 5:

    Place the right side of one side of the zipper on the right side of one of the pillow back piece, along the 20″ side. Stitch in place using a zipper foot. If your zipper is longer than your pillow, let the end of the zipper hang over the side of the pillow piece.

    Place the right side of the other side of the zipper to the right side of the other pillow back piece.

    Press seam open and top stitch down both sides of the zipper.

    Trim the entire piece down to 20″ x 20″. It’s okay to trim off the end of the zipper, just make sure it’s not the end of the zipper with the zipper pull. Also, do not unzip the zipper until the pillow construction is finished.

    Free tutorial for a Hit the Open Road pillow, a fun DIY project for an RV or camper. Plus why our family loves to "Go RV'ing"

    STEP 6:

    Place the pillow front and pillow back pieces WRONG sides facing. Stitch around the edge with a ⅜″ seam allowance.

    Cut 3 strips of binding fabric each 2 ½″ wide by the length of the fabric. Stitch the pieces together along the short ends and trim the seam allowances down to ⅛″.

    Free tutorial for a Hit the Open Road pillow, a fun DIY project for an RV or camper. Plus why our family loves to "Go RV'ing"

    Press the binding in half with the wrong sides facing.

    You will next bind the pillow in the same way that you would bind a quilt.  Place the raw edge of the binding flush with the raw edge of the back side of the pillow. Stitch in place using a ¼″ seam allowance. Pivot at corners.

    Fold the binding over to the front of the pillow and press. Secure in place using binding clips.  I find it also helps to use a bit of glue or seam tape to hold the binding in place.

    Stitch binding down by stitching close to the folded edge of the binding on the front of the pillow.

    Unzip the zipper and insert the pillow form. CONGRATS! You’re done!

     

    Free tutorial for a Hit the Open Road pillow, a fun DIY project for an RV or camper. Plus why our family loves to "Go RV'ing"

    More Pillow Patterns You may Like:

    Giant Pocket Pillow Sewing Pattern

    Road Trip Pillow Case Sewing Pattern

    Reading Pillow Sewing Pattern 

    Hit the Open road pillow being held in front of an RV

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    About Author

    Melissa Mortenson

    Melissa Mortenson is a blogger, designer, and content creator. She is the Polka Dot Chair blog founder and has been sharing fresh and creative ideas with readers since 2008. She is the author of “Project Teen, Handmade Gifts your Teen will Actually Love.” Her work and designs have been featured on HuffPost, TODAY, Pioneer Woman, HGTV, BuzzFeed, Better Homes & Gardens, and many other established publications. Her first fabric line, “Derby Style,” debuted in January 2015 through Riley Blake Designs.  Additional fabric collections have followed it in subsequent years. A mom of 3, she considers herself lucky to be living in Kentucky.

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    Hello! It’s nice to meet you.

    I’m Melissa. I like to design things, like fabric, printables, and projects.

    I’m also a Mom and a Maker. I am like most of you, just trying to do my best every day. Some days I succeed, many days I fail.  I find joy in creating, if you do too, then I hope that you find something here bring a little “happy” to your life.  Find out more about me here.

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    All my images and text are copyrighted. You may NOT use any images from this site in any kind of Video (this includes YouTube). If you would like to feature my work, you may use ONE (1) NON-COLLAGED image and must “follow” link back to my original blog post. You may NOT edit, crop, or change my images in any way without written permission. You MAY NOT print out or copy and distribute any text, images or patterns from this site. All patterns, content, instructions, and templates are for personal use ONLY! Thank you! Violators will be reported.

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