DIY Bolster Pillow in Blue

This is a sturdy bolster ideal for use at the top of the bed in place of a headboard.

Unfortunately, my old sewing machine is in the basement so pics are a bit dark.  This isn't a pattern just how I created this bolster. 

I took a wooden dowel the width of the bed and wrapped it with pillows end to end. I used three of them.  Hand stitch them together with heavy-duty thread if you have it.

I didn't want one solid colour bolster across the top of this queen sized bed so I sewed 3 equal sized pieces of material together with the patterned one in the middle the same as the intended ends.

I wanted the bolster to fit edge to edge on the bed so this finished piece measured the width of the bed.

Added some ribbon for accent over the seam.

I took my contrasting material and cut two pieces for each end the width of half the rolled butt end of the bolster and the length of the short end of the white. Sewed the patterned material to the white. (I hope this is making sense!)

Next, measured 1" and sewed a pocket on each end. That's where it will be cinched closed. 

Sewed up the long edge of the bolster cover, but stopped at the pocket. Didn't want to stitch it closed!

Once it was all sewn up I pulled the cover up over the bolster. It's snug.

I took a piece of ribbon long enough to tie up at the end, and pinned a safety pin to the end making it easier to feed the ribbon through the end pocket.

Then tied the ribbon into a bow...

And that's it!

If you'd like a softer bolster that could be used as a draft stopper pillow check out my post called Red Room Makeover with DIY Bolster Pillow

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2018/01/red-room-makeover-with-diy-bolster.html

Red Room Makeover with DIY Bolster Pillow

We made over a couple of bedrooms last winter. I finally got around to posting what we did.  Here's our red room.

Single mate's bed...some of the knobs on the drawers drooped and wouldn't tighten anymore and the black leatherette upholstered headboard had to go. 

The biggest job was removing that old parquet flooring and replacing it with tongue and groove..... I didn't document that part of the job here but you'll see the end result.

To make the bolster I took an old comforter and rolled it up tightly. I found it wasn't big enough for what I wanted as it was an old and flimsy comforter so I rolled up a couple of old tablecloths inside too. You gotta do what you gotta do, right?

Anyways, I took a piece of material the length of the intended bolster. This was before I cut the red checkered material even with the end of the comforter.

I took a contrasting material (red here), the width of half the rolled butt end of the comforter and the length of the short end of the checkered. Sewed the red to the checkered.

Next measured 1" and sewed a pocket on the end of the red. That's the pocket where it will be cinched together.

Sewed up the long edge of the bolster cover, but stopped at the pocket so it didn't get stitched closed.

Once it was sewn I gathered it up like you would a long sock or pantyhose, put one end of the bolster in and pulled the cover up.

Took a piece of ribbon, or in this case bias tape long enough to tie up at the end, and pinned a safety pin to the end. Fed the safety pin through the end pocket and tied the ribbon into a bow.

(I know, I should have used red thread, we'll just say I used white so you could see it better in the pics, lol)

I used some of the checkered material to make over the old roller blind.

Here's my link for how I did it:

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2016/01/easy-roller-blind-makeover.html

We had an old brass bed headboard that gave the old mate's bed that daybed look, changed the drawer pulls to brass to match the headboard.

Oh, and there's a peek at the new floor!

This bolster is soft and could also be used as a draft stopper pillow. For a more sturdy type bolster check out my DIY Bolster Pillow in Blue here:

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.com/2018/01/diy-bolster-pillow-in-blue.html