I made this Vinyl Tablecloth Pillow shown in Inspiring Vintage Memories from a $2.00 vinyl tablecloth from Big Lots before going to the beach. My plan was to make another one much neater in order to do a tutorial. Sometimes I can mess up the simplest things and this pillow is super simple. Long story short, I will be using the less than perfect prototype for the tutorial.
Here is the remainder of the tablecloth that I was going to make another pillow from before I messed up on my measurements and cut it too short. Darn!
Here are the correct measurements. Cut a piece that is 20 inches wide by 49 inches long. Of course you can make it any size you like. Make sure that one end of the material cut has the pre-finished edge.
Let’s take a look at the already made Vinyl Tablecloth Pillow. Please excuse the sloppiness. The bubbles illustrate the simple steps involved:
#1 Sew a felt rectangle approximately 6.5 inches from the top and centered before folding the fabric to form the pillow. Mine is all crooked because, this is the prototype and I did not realize that this area would need reinforcement until after it was sewn.
#2 Measure and mark 10 inches down from the finished edge of the tablecloth. You should have a 10 inch overhang to form the ruffle in the front.
#3 Fold the material right sides together up to the 10 inch mark. the folded edge will be the bottom.
#4 Sew the pillow together on the sides. Notice that there is no seam on the bottom. Yea, just two little side seams!
Next, turn the pillow cover inside out. I know, I know, not much to look at.
Next insert a pillow form. You can make one using the easy technique in Make an Outdoor Pillow Any Size, Any Style. You can also buy one already made (18X18), or do like me and repurpose and old stained bed pillow. Hey, after all, it is going outside and it is covered in vinyl! You can skip the step where Lesley covered the pillow with a dollar store shower curtain because this pillow is vinyl on the outside.
Now we are ready to give this pillow some character. Here I am taking a very large needle. I believe it is an upholtsery needle that I used years ago making a custom slip cover. I have threaded a 12-14 inch piece of jute through the eye.
Remember that piece of felt sewn on the back for reinforcement? Now we are going to insert the large needle through the front into the felt and back out the front to form a tie. The reason for the reinforcement is that when the jute is tightened up it cuts through the vinyl.
Now that we have a tie we can gather up the excess material that forms a “flap” on the front to form a gather. Now we’re looking good!
The final touch is the bow. This bow was created from pieces of burlap that I saved from raveling out the edge of the burlap table cloth shown the Upstairs Porch Uplift. I simply gathered a bunch of strings and tied them together in the middle. Then the burlap bow was attached with the jute tie.
I just love this little all weather Vinyl Tablecloth Pillow. It matches my cushions perfectly and was so easy and inexpensive to make. The kitchen area of discount stores usually have vinyl print tablecloths for each season. So, if you are yearning for some outdoor pillows, you don’t have to spend a fortune or a lot of time to make a unique one of a kind pillow.
