This neck pillow is a welcome comfort on a long car trip or airplane ride, and your child will have a blast making it! Keep it in the glove compartment or toss it in a carry-on so that you can reach it easily when he needs some rest. Not only will he love making something so plush and useful, whipping up this neck pillow also gives him a basic introduction to sewing and strengthens his ability to follow directions.
What You Need:
- 1/3 yard of a soft, fuzzy fabric (such as comfort fleece)
- Scissors
- Needle
- Thread
- Sewing/dressmaker pins
- Pillow stuffing or other filling material
What You Do:
- Help your child use scissors to cut a large “U” shape in the soft fabric. The “U” should be about 12” high and about 15” long.
- Flip the “U” over and use it as a template as you guide your child in cutting another, identical “U” shape from the fabric.
- Help him lay the two “right” sides of the “U” shape together (the sides you would like to be visible when the project is finished), and secure them with sewing pins.
- Give him a long length of thread (at least 2’) and help her secure the end by tying a few knots in it.
- Starting a couple of inches to the left of the bottom of the “U,” help him put the needle and thread through the fabric. Guide him in sewing all around the neck pillow. Stop and help him secure the end of the fabric when a 3” to 4” opening is left at the bottom of the “U.”
- Remove the sewing needles from the “U,” and flip it inside out so the “right” side of the fabric is showing.
- Ask him to stuff the pillow with the filling through the open slot at the bottom of the “U.”
- When the pillow is full, thread the needle again and secure the end. Have your child sew the open slot shut by pinching the flaps to the inside and then sewing them together.
Your child can sew regular pillows using a similar process. Instead of making those pillows “U”-shaped, she can simply cut large rectangles from fabric, sew around the borders, flip them inside out, fill them in with foam, and sew the ends together.
By Carly Schuna
Carly Schuna is a freelance writer and editor who enjoys writing and reading childrenâs literature. She has written and edited dozens of puzzles and activities and has served on the editorial staff of Highlights for Children and Highlights High Five magazines.
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