Home > Pillows + Cushions > Specialty > 30-Minute Therapeutic Neck Pillows
These little bow-tie shaped neck pillows are super for proppin’ up your noggin as you watch TV or read in bed… or do a little browsing on your favorite device. They’re also great for supporting your neck while sleeping. This is one of our original designs and remains a perennial favorite. They have the perfect contour and softness to cradle your head and neck in comfort. In fact, this project comes with a warning: once you make one and share it with friends and family, you’ll be on the hook to make many, many more. Good thing you can finish one in under an hour.
Reactions are likely to run the gamut from “love it” to “get your own” to “gentle snoring.” If you make one for everyone, they’ll be less of a struggle.
We’ve made countless of these as gifts, and use them ourselves every night. If you like a cool, crisp pillow, use a quality 100% cotton décor fabric. If you’re looking for warm and cozy, try flannel or plush fleece. Overall, we recommend a slightly heavier fabric for the best, longest-lasting results, although our samples in quilting weight cotton have also turned out nicely.
Many people tell us how well-received this pillow is by seniors or those who must spend many hours seated or in bed. It offers therapeutic support for the neck, allowing those hard-working muscles to relax.
Despite the complex-looking shape, our bow-tie pillow is super easy to make. As mentioned above, this thoughtful gift only takes only about 30 minutes, start to finish.
The loop handles at either end are the perfect length to grasp and adjust the pillow into your perfect position.
Each pillow finishes at approximately 16″ with a 14″ circumference at the center and a 22″ circumference at the ends.
Sewing Tools You Need
- Sewing Machine and standard presser foot
Fabric and Other Supplies
- ½ yard* of 44″+ wide fabric per pillow – we recommend a slightly heavier décor weight, although we have made options with standard quilting weight cottons. We’ve also done successful sets in cotton sateen and plush fleece.
NOTE: * While ½ yard is sufficient for one pillow, if you select a fabric with a large motif as we did for these samples, we recommend getting ¾ to a full yard for the very best fussy cutting options. The photo below shows how we carefully mapped out the cuts for one of our pillows.
- ⅔ yard of ¾” to 1″ ribbon or tape per pillow; we used a twill tape in natural for this set, you could also use grograin ribbon, suede or even make a matching tie from the same fabric
- ONE medium bag of premium polyester fiber fill; we used Polyfil® 100% Premium Polyester Fiberfill by Fairfield
- All-purpose thread to match fabric
- See-through ruler
- Fabric pen or pencil
- Iron and ironing board
- Scissors or rotary cutter and mat
- Seam gauge
- Seam ripper
- Straight pins
- Hand sewing needle
Getting Started
- Download and print FOUR copies of our Neck Pillow Pattern.
IMPORTANT: This pattern is ONE 8½” x 11″ sheet. You must print the PDF file at 100%. DO NOT SCALE to fit the page. There is a guide line on the page to confirm your printout is the correct size. - Cut out the pattern pieces along the solid lines.
- Butt the four pattern pieces together, flipping over two of the four pieces, to make one bow-tie shaped pattern piece. Do NOT overlap. Tape in place.
- Using the assembled pattern, cut THREE pieces.
NOTE: As mentioned above, a careful fussy cut is a good option, but also remember to pay attention to whether your fabric has nap (like fleece or suede) or any directional print to insure everything is oriented correctly.
- You’ll see an ✱ on either end of your assembled pattern piece. On each of your three pieces, make a small V-shaped cut, about ⅛” in depth and width, at these two symbols. These are the points where you start/stop stitching and attach the center of your ribbon handles. While you can use a marking pencil, we’ve found this V-clip is easier to spot while sewing.
- Cut the ribbon/tape in half into two 12″ lengths.
At Your Sewing Machine & Ironing Board
- This pillow is essentially a chubby triangle, which is helpful to keep in mind as you are assembling; you need three sides to create the correct dimension.
- Pin two of your three pieces of cut fabric right sides together along one side, from one V-clip to the opposite V-clip.
- Using a ⅜” seam allowance, stitch from the precise center point of the V on one side to precisely that same point on the opposite side. The other side remains open. Because of the narrow seam allowance and the curves, sew slowly to assure your stitching line is even and accurate. You might want to slightly reduce your stitch length for a smoother curve and tighter seam. For more about this technique, check out our full tutorial on Sewing Smooth Curves Every Time.
- Loop each 12″ length of ribbon/tape in half to form a handle, aligning the raw ends. Pin the raw ends in place at the center of each V-clip with the loop falling to the inside.
- Place your third fabric piece into position against one of the remaining raw edges of the original two pieces, matching all the curves and sandwiching the loops between the layers.
- Stitch a second seam, again from V-clip to opposite V-clip.
- You are starting and stopping the seam to include half of the ribbon/tape as shown below. Backstitch over the ribbon/tape to give it extra security to hold up to its job of tugging the pillow into position.
- Pin the two remaining raw edges together in the same manner but leaving a 3″ – 4″ opening along the inner curve, as shown in the photo below, for turning right side out and inserting the filler.
- Stitch this third and final seam from one V-clip to the opposite V-clip. As before, remember to backstitch over the ribbon/tape for strength and remember to lock your seam at either side of the 3″ – 4″ opening.
- Turn the cover right side out. Use a long, blunt-end tool, such as a chopstick, knitting needle or point turner, to gently round out all the curves. Pull the loops out into position at either end.
- Press in the raw edges of the opening so they are flush with the sewn seam.
- Stuff with filler until pleasingly plump but not so rock hard it’s uncomfortable.
- Pin the seam allowance at the opening …
- … and hand stitch closed, using tiny stitches so the filler doesn’t poke out.
- When finished, a comfortably stuffed pillow looks about like this:
Project Design and Instructional Outline: Alicia Thommas
Sample Creation: Debbie Guild
*Sew4Home reserves the right to restrict comments that don’t relate to the article, contain profanity, personal attacks or promote personal or other business. When commenting, your name will display but your email will not.
Fantastic! Thank you!
.Thank you SOOO much for this pattern! I have been looking, literally, for years for this pattern.
Ahhhh, Thanks Diane! This is one of our most popular projects by far. Enjoy!
Thank you for this pattern. I made one for my stepdaughter (in Portland, by the way) who is undergoing chemo. She really appreciates it and reports that she is now able to nap on the couch without getting a crick in her neck. I stuffed it with shredded memory foam; because the memory foam isn’t really washable I made a pillowcase for it, with an opening at the bottom for the loop and snaps to close up the top and still allow the loop out.
Hi Claudia – What a perfect gift for your stepdaughter! Thanks for letting us know – and for sharing your memory-form-in-a-pillowcase option.
Thank you for sharing this pattern. Its been an absolute hit with my family and friends.
Hi Julie – thanks for letting us know. These little pillows are definitely in out Top 10 most popular projects ever 🙂
I made one to try and it is a success in our home! My kids are requesting one, I was thinking to print the patter to 85%, but wanted to ask if someone has made it. Both my kids are under 8 yo. Thank you!
Hi Zumla — So glad the pillow is a hit. It is a super popular pattern. We haven’t tested it at the smaller size, but it should work for you. Let us know.
I accidentally printed one at 85% and sewed it anyway. It works perfectly as well.
How kind of you to create and share this wonderful pattern and tutorial! Thank you so very much. 🙂
Hi Dori – This is indeed one of our most popular patters ever 🙂 – Let us know how yours turns out.
This is an amazing pattern. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Flora May – Thank you so much. It’s one of our most popular patterns ever. Have fun with it and let us know how your pillow(s) turn out.
This pillow is amazing!!! I This pillow is amazing!!! I made one of them years ago for a fried. He really loves it. Now I need your help. I forgot how much stuffing I put in. Could you please tell me how much is “one medium size polyfill bag” in grams? 🙂 Over here in Germany you can choose among several packages but all of them are sold by weight. I HATE shopping online and that is why I support local shops (as long as they wil be there…. how knows?). Could you please help me? Thank you so much… Read more »
@cassatina – So glad you are
@cassatina – So glad you are enjoying the pattern. We started with a 16 ounce bag of filler, which translates to 453 grams when I use the online calculator. You probably won’t use the entire bag.
I made one for a lady for a
I made one for a lady for a present… easy and fast to sew up. I didn’t add the elastic tho… thanks for sharing
Ajscreations2 – Thank you! We
Ajscreations2 – Thank you! We don’t use any elastic in this project, but maybe you mean the loops at either end? Those are indeed optional; they just make it a bit easier to position the pillow. We recommend a twill tape or ribbon for them.
I’d like to say great minds
I’d like to say great minds think alike, but I had no part in creating this pattern, so I can’t.
That said, I coincidentally featured my take on this item on my blog this week. I recycled an old microbead pillow to use as part of the stuffing and love how it turned out.
Thanks for the inspiring project!
@Rochelle – We always enjoy
@Rochelle – We always enjoy being a source of inspiration
I just made one of these pillows and really love it. I was wondering how this could be made with a removable cover! Has anyone tried this? Zipper or Velcro?
Hi Patty – so glad to hear you are loving the pillow. It really is one of our top faves of all time. It is indeed meant to be spot cleaned although the entire pillow can also be tossed into the wash. So, we’ve not experimented with a cover. In general, with all the seaming – and to get a nice tight fit, Velcro within one of the center seams, perhaps the last seam, might be your best bet.
I stuffed one with shredded memory foam, which you can’t toss in the wash, so I made a pillowcase for it.