In todays’ post: Learn how to make a portable “pillow bed” for your kids – perfect for spending nights at Grandma’s house or just lounging at home.
You might be asking yourself: what in the world is a pillow bed, and why would I want one? Well, a pillow bed is a pretty much just what it sounds like: a portable bed made of pillows that are connected in a row. It’s a nice way for kids to have a comfy place to sleep when they are spending the night at someone’s house without worrying about blowing up an air mattress. Pillow beds also work well as loungers for watching TV or reading books.
Best of all: kids love them! A pillow bed is a fantastic homemade gift idea.
You can make a pillow bed by sewing 4 or 5 pillowcases together, and then sewing velcro at the end of each pillowcase to keep the pillow inside. However, to keep this project as cheap and easy as possible, I ditched the pillowcases and velcro and used one flat sheet instead. Fold the sheet and sew a few straight lines and you are done!
I made a pillow bed for each of my two youngest kids. The main living area of the house we’re renting is all laminate flooring, so these pillow beds make a cozy spot for them to lounge around together.
The secret to a cheap & easy pillow bed is a twin size flat sheet. Walmart sells them in a wide range of colors for $5 or $6 each. They also sell basic pillows for $2.50 each, making a 5 pillow bed under $20. It’s a perfect handmade Christmas gift.
How to make a kids’ pillow bed
Start by laying out your sheet on a flat surface right side down (a table is easier than the floor). Your sheet should be 66 inches wide by 96 inches long. You’re going to fold in each side along the dotted lines in the diagram below. You want the final width of the pillow bed to be about 27 inches, so if your sheet is exactly 66 inches wide, you’ll fold in 19.5 for each side. (The sheets I bought varied a little in width – so I just adjusted how much I was folding in to get a final width of approximately 27 inches.)
This diagram shows what the sheet will look like once folded. The right side was folded in first, then the left side, which overlaps the right. The overlap means we won’t have to add any velcro to keep the pillows in place.
Pin the sheet together across the top and bottom. Then you’ll want to pin 4 more lines, each approximately 19 inches apart. It would be easiest to mark these lines with tailor’s chalk or something similar. It’s not necessary that they are exact, just try to space them as evenly as you can. Use lots of pins!
Take the sheet to your sewing machine and sew a line of straight stitching along each row of pins, backstitching and the start and end. I found it was easiest to sew one end first, then roll the sheet from that end up to the next row of pins, then sew that row and roll again. This kept the sheet from getting all bunched up as I sewed:
It only takes 6 seams, and you have a pillow bed cover ready to go! There will be 5 sections that are each much like a pillow sham. Stuff a pillow into each section, and you’re done.
Looking for more easy sewing tutorials? Check out these posts:
How to make a half circle skirt
The Play-All-Day dress (easiest girls’ dress pattern)
The easiest way to make a women’s tee
Meagan says
I was wondering since you said if there’s overlap you wouldn’t need velcro, does that mean that it’s sewn shut? Do you throw the entire thing in the washer? If so, how does it hold up?
Becky D says
Thank you for the great & detailed instructions. Love the flap idea in place if Velcro. I took it a step further and used a twin set with characters from the movie Frozen for my granddaughter. Used the flat sheet as you instructed. Then I split the pillow case in half (had character pictures on both sides). Put one piece on either end, over sewed 3 sides, and left one open to form a pocket. She uses one for her jammies and one for her blanket. I also used the fitted sheet to make a drawstring bag to put the whole thing in to store/carry.
Barb says
Thank you for your tutorial! I successfully made my first pillow bed today for my granddaughter. I used 60″ wide fabric that has a child print to make it more colorful, but your instructions were extremely helpful.