30 DIY Mattress Ideas - No. 9 Linking Pillow Mattress
Important note: We are not advocating that you actually make these mattresses. They have not been tested and are not approved mattress kits. This is an exercise of the imagination for entertainment purposes only. Think of this as our private design notebook, now opened for everyone to see!
Linking Pillow Mattress
(some links below will take you to a product on Amazon.com)
If you can sew in a straight line, you can make this mattress! Linking pillows are just long tubes sewn from any fabric. Pictured above was made from an old table cloth.
Overall dimensions of fabric used for each pillow was 72" X 12 1/2" (includes 1/2" seam allowance).
The fabric is folded the long way (the hotdog way) and sewn into a tube that measures 6" X 71" when turned right side out and laid flat.
One end of the tube is sewn shut, the other end is left open sewing 3 sides, leaving one short side open.
After turning your tube nightside out, both ends of the tube are folded over 7" and tacked down on either side to create the looped ends (see photo of how close to the edge it needs to be tacked. 4 tacks needed on each pillow. After filling the tube all you need is a piece of cord to tie closed the open side.
The loops on both ends creates endless linking possibilities by feeding other linking pillows through the loops. Once you start playing, knotting, braiding, weaving them, you'll see!
Check out how our waffle insert on our weighted throw gets assembled as it uses basically the same concept but without needed to sew anything by our tubular kit fabric.
Our sample: The finished sample mattress measured 27" X 27" @ 7" thick. The pattern can continue in any direction hypothetically you can make any size you need. We used 16 linking pillows, knotted them together and wove the perimeter secure in the same fashion as our weighted throw inserts. We are currently looking for our video showing the knotting process, will post here when rediscovered or when we recreate it!
How did our sample feel? Wonderful, soft and springy! Knots make a thick mattress, but thinner cushions can also be made by braiding them or weaving them. We made one cushion by following a YouTube tutorial for bread making - a 5 strand braid!
What we like about this mattress idea: You can adjust the size of your mattress by adding or removing pillows and adjust the thickness of your mattress by the way you connect them. A great use for old sheets and tablecloths. This would be a fun community projects many hands make light work. I have fond memories sewing the ones above with my friends.
Negatives: Project used a lot of pillows so it's a project, unlike just filling topper covers with hulls, this one will take time and patience if doing by yourself. Also it would be sad to cover the beautiful textured cushion with a sheet.
Future possibilities: We can also see this being used for sofa cushions or as a huge pillow that looks like a headboard using these fasteners.