I love to travel. I also love to buy souvenirs. And yes, sometimes I buy the occasional souvenir that I have absolutely no use for when I get home. Case in point – this tote I bought on my cruise to Roatan, Honduras. It was fun to carry all of my purchases on the island in, but when I got home, I realized that it’s not likely I would ever carry it again. So, it hung in my closet – until I figured out what I could do with it. I decided to turn it into an easy DIY throw pillow.

Easy DIY Throw Pillow

Let me be the first to say, I am no seamstress. I don’t know the first thing about using a sewing machine, nor do I own one. I just bought myself a simple sewing kit with a needle and thread that would match my pillow and quickly transformed this souvenir tote into a DIY souvenir pillow by hand.

You will need…
A needle
A threader {those holes can be crazy to get the thread through}
A thimble {this material is thick so you are likely to stab yourself without a thimble}
Fiber Fill {I asked another customer in Walmart that looked like she knew her way around a sewing machine what I should buy}
Scissors

First, cut off the tote straps and cut off the bottom by hand. That’s all. Don’t cut anything else off of the bag. I didn’t draw a straight line or anything. I just eyeballed it using the writing on the bag. But definitely draw a line if it makes you feel better. I think a ruler would work nicely for this.

Next, turn the bag inside out. Make sure you flatten it out as best as you can, and make sure that the part where you cut is still matched up pretty well. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you should do the best that you can.

Next, thread your needle and get to work. I was advised by the woman I met in Walmart that I should make very small stitches as the Fiber Fill might start coming out of the pillow otherwise. So, I sewed very small stitches all across the bottom of the bag and then came back up and did a second row.

Finally, I turned the bag back right side out and then filled it with Fiber Fill. Then I zipped the bag closed and voila! Easy peasy!

I made this pillow a few months ago and wanted to make sure it held up before I posted about it. It’s still together and looks just like when I made it. Still though, it’s probably not the sturdiest pillow ever so I wouldn’t use it to sleep on every night. I also think that a sewing machine would definitely give you a stronger pillow in the end, but it is great for a cute throw pillow. I have some other totes that I am thinking about doing this to very soon. I would love to have one from every cruise destination all along my couch in the basement.

What Do You Think Of My DIY Throw Pillow?

Is this something you would make? Have you made something similar and want to share? Please do so in the comments below.