You guys - I picked up four of these patriotic placemats at HomeGoods over the weekend for just under 10 dollars. Instead of using them for their intended purpose, I immediately knew they would make GREAT 4th of July throw pillows thanks to their thick material.
You are not going to find an easier pillow tutorial than this, my friend. If you can sew a somewhat straight line, then you'll do just great. Trust me on this - I can barely sew a straight line and mine came out amazing :-)
What You'll Need to Make These Easy Placemat Pillows
- Placemats with a thick edge on the back
- White fabric
- Sewing machine & Thread
- Scissors
- Batting (easier than finding a perfectly fitting pillow form)
Directions
Cut the white fabric so that it fits just inside the sewed border on the underside of the placemat. I chose a stretchy "sport" fabric from JoAnn (it was $7.99 a yard). It's a bit more forgiving if you don't cut it perfectly since you can stretch it a bit. Fold under the raw edges slightly and pin in place.
I used the zigzag stitch and sewed the white fabric to the placemat all along the edge of the original sewed seam. 
Once you get to the fourth side, leave an opening big enough to fit your hand through so that you can add the stuffing. Fill it with the batting, making sure your pillow is nice and plump. Don't forget to really get into those corners!
By the way - proof above that I cannot sew a straight line! hah!
Sew up the hole - either by hand or if you can, with the sewing machine.
Add to your indoor or outdoor couch and enjoy!
On a side note...our deck took such a beating this past winter. It's in desperate need of new paint or stain or whatever that brown stuff is. Preferably not this shade of poop brown next time, though!
This method of pillow creating actually creates a really nice border on the finished side of the pillow. They do not look like DIY pillows when they are finished!
I picked up some patriotic accessories at Target to add to the look. Aren't they cute? The Target dollar spot is the best!
This DIY placemat pillows turned out SO great that I'm going to be on the hunt for similar style placemats to make some more! By the way - I picked this up this past weekend so I bet there's still some available at a HomeGoods or Marshalls near you!
