How to Sew a Nursing Pillow

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How to sew a nursing pillow that fits your body comfortably post partum.

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With my first two sons, I bought a used nursing pillow and made covers for it. I thought it was really useful, but I found that it was a bit snug for my body, particularly post partum with a sensitive c section.

I knew it needed to be snug-ish for safety and to get just the right fit, but… I didn’t like how much bending it I needed to do to fit it around me.

The nursing pillow was among the items that I decluttered a few months prior to finding out I was pregnant so I needed to pick up another nursing pillow before baby was born. I thought about trying a different brand, but instead I opted to try to make my own. I think it worked out pretty well.

I made this when I was about 29 weeks pregnant so I had a substantial enough belly at that point to get an idea how big I might be post partum. If you haven’t had babies before, your body unfortunately doesn’t snap right back into prepregnancy shape the second the baby pops out. This isn’t a movie.

You may want to make a removable cover and make the pillow piece using a muslin fabric or with a thin fabric you don’t mind never seeing. I did not. I regretted this because I brought it to the hospital to use, then it ended up on the floor a few times which … ewww… but I was able to wash it when I got home without issue fortunately. I just wish I’d done a cover.

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How to Sew a Nursing Pillow

This is how your pattern will look like when it’s put together. I made it so the pattern went all the way to the edge of the paper (just to save paper).

You want to adjust this pattern to work for your body. I drew mine up on an old paper bag (cut up) then held it around my 29 week belly. Then I readjusted the pattern until it fit how I wanted. Holding up a piece of paper around my belly wasn’t 100% accurate compared to what the pillow will feel like finished, but it gave me a basic idea of how well it would fit.

Once I adjusted the pillow how I wanted it, I was able to cut out my fabric. I used one fabric for the top and a coordinating fabric for the bottom. I really wanted something smooth and soft so I used minky. I like the soothing feel to this fabric and the top pattern had a cute, baby friendly design.

Once cut, I pinned the two pieces right sides together. I sewed around the whole thing, leaving a 1/4″ seam allowance and an area to turn it right sides out.

Turn the fabrics right sides out through the hole.

Stuff your nursing pillow. I used a lot of fiberfill because I wanted the pillow to be very firm, similar to store bought nursing pillows.

Once your nursing pillow is full, you can hand sew your opening closed.

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