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DIY No Sew Throw Pillows

These easy no-sew throw pillows are a DIY delight! Super simple and quick to make with upcycled canvas bags.

You can make these on a rainy weekend, and dress up your couch for every season!

DIY No Sew Throw Pillows-So easy to make, perfect rainy day DIY project. Make these cozy throw pillows from a canvas shopping tote! Perfect to recycle old totes, or make a clever upcycle from a new bag with a cute pattern. LOVE this idea.

If you are interested in a tutorial for how to re-stuff your couch, you can read about that here.

Oh, and that coffee table? I made that too-or at least the top. It’s my Restoration Hardware inspired faux barnwood coffee table and you can find the tutorial to make your own here.

On a recent trip to Hobby Lobby, I found these canvas shopping bags that were SO cute I couldn’t pass them up.

I don’t normally use canvas bags, and if I do, I look for ones with flat bottoms which these did not have-but I decided I could use these in another way: I turned them into easy no sew throw pillows!

I am going to show you how to take a canvas shopping bag and turn them into ADORABLE no sew throw pillows with a quick and easy hack. Did I mention they take 3 minutes and less than $4 each to make?

Seriously, are these not super cute?

DIY canvas throw pillows

So if you have a Hobby Lobby near you, check these out-they were displayed at the front registers on an endcap, and they are $3.99 each.

DIY canvas throw pillows

The great thing about using a canvas bag is that they are 99% pre-assembled for you. They are already sewn closed on 3 of the 4 edges!

I ironed my bags because they were a little wrinkly, but this step isn’t necessary if yours are not wrinkled.

To make these no-sew throw pillows, you’ll want to remove the handles from your bags. You can carefully pop the stitches or rip it carefully. I used a scissor to pop the first stitches out, and then just pulled for the rest.

canvas shopping bag hack
These are a few adorable bags I found on Amazon, but you can use whatever bags you have on hand as well!

Use new (or re-purposed) poly-fil stuffing. I am using some of the leftover poly-fil from my couch re-stuffing project from last week.

making throw pillow

Now if you want to be all fancy, you could sew these, but I’m totally all about taking the easy route, so I pulled out my handy glue gun.

You want to fold over the top seam edge (otherwise you’ll have a weird strip at the top sticking up).

You can also iron it if you want to get the seam to lay flat.

DIY throw pillow no sew

Use the glue gun to glue the top seam closed.

throw pillow no sew

I did this in 3″ sections, holding down the freshly glued area until it was slightly cool to prevent it from pulling apart. Clean off any hot glue that oozes out of the seam.

no sew throw pillow canvas bag

Voila! That’s it. Done. In less than 3 minutes. That folded over edge gives it a nice clean seam.

If you have more time, or want to ensure its durability, you could always sew it instead, but so far these are holding up really well with just a nice substantial bead of hot glue.

If you have canvas shopping totes at home that have outlived their usefulness as a bag-especially if the problem is a broken strap-you can breathe new life into them as throw pillows.

You can also purchase new totes as I did for this project. Its so simple!

Here’s the finished project:

DIY canvas throw pillows

And here they are displayed on our newly re-stuffed couch. Looks cozy now, doesn’t it? I think I might just take a nap!

Finished DIY throw pillows

The blue pillows pictured are from Ikea (they are actually just empty shells you add a pillow form into).

What do you think of these no sew throw pillows?

 

 

C

Sunday 28th of June 2020

This is a great idea!! I am repainting my room and would like to give this a try!

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Tara

Sunday 3rd of December 2017

OH EM GEE!!! This is freaking fabulous!! I have been needing throw pillows pretty much ALL over my home (ok wanting not NEEDING) for a few years but have been stuck with my old, ugly ones bc I have no sewing skills- I can't get that stupid iron tape to even work! I literally turned the carpet into a rock solid mess in 1 spot trying to use it lol. (Lesson learned, use it on a table with something protective under it, or better yet- not at all!) But this idea is just pure genius! I mean even I can do this!!! I have always wanted holiday pillows (especially xmas!) but can never afford them before & after it seems like wasted $. NOW I can just buy a cheap tote & make one!! It's 10pm Sunday night and I am going on a hunt around my house now for bags. THANK YOU!! Also- These are the easiest, most accurate (in terms of description) DIY pillows I have ever seen. I have searched EVERY kind of "no-sew" pillow there is and this is the only one that lives up to that, except for that bow one- which I can't get to work either and I have no money for fabric. I'd rather recycle something falling apart. :) I will be sharing this all over & prob makibg my niece one for Christmas!

An Exercise in Frugality

Monday 4th of December 2017

Thanks for your kind words Tara! I'm working on getting another tutorial up soon for a removable cover that you can make with a glue gun too, which makes them easy to swap covers to change the look any time you want. I hope to get that up soon,so be sure to check back! :) I'm glad you found this tutorial helpful!

Sarah Silah

Thursday 30th of November 2017

I really love the idea, quick question. How do you wash it though, i mean it'll get dirty with time

An Exercise in Frugality

Monday 4th of December 2017

Honestly we didn't really lay on these much so they didn't get that dirty. You can spot clean them, and they might be able to be washed in cold water on a gentle cycle, and air dry but I would test one first. I don't still have these (we moved cross country and we purged a ton of stuff in the process) so unfortunately I can't test that out!