Recycling an old pillow

This yucky old pillow needed a facelift.  I bought it around Christmas, but with three kids running amok, it got destroyed pretty quickly.  And since the cover was not removable, this ice cream/caramel stain was permanent.  So, I decided to recycle the stuffing.

First I cut two 19 x 19 inch muslin squares.  Then I sewed them together using a 1/2" seam allowance backstitching at the beginning and end while leaving about a 3 inch hole (enough to get my hand into).  I pressed the seams and turned it  right side out.  I used a chopstick to poke out the corners gently and pressed it again.

Here is the 3 inch gap.

Now comes the fun part!  My five year old stuffed the old polyfill fiber into the new pillow.  First I refluffed all the fiberfill by "combing" it through my fingers to make it puffy again.  I also helped push the fiberfill evenly down into the corners of the pillow.

Then I handstitched the gap closed.  I hate handsewing, but luckily this step only takes two minutes.  Your pillow will measure 18 x 18.

And, voila!, I made two pillows using this method.  I love this fabric.  I found it at Joanns on Sunday when I was buying some Warm and White batting.  I turned around from the cutting table and it was thrown on the bottom shelf in the craft area.  Must have been kismet!  It's Alexander Henry "Kelo" and the selvage said 2005.  Now my living room looks great!

The pillows have contrasting back fabric and you can find the tutorial here.