DIY No-Sew Zippered Pillow Cover

You read that right. A completely no-sew zippered pillow cover for fall. Made out of napkins I found at the thrift store!

DIY East No-Sew Zippered Pillow Cover

I recently bought a bottle of permanent fabric glue to use for another project that, ultimately, the glue didn't work for. I loved the idea of it though so I wracked my brain to try and come up with something else I could try it on. And then it hit me: pillows. And why not attempt a zipper?

Usually I sew pillows because I really want them to hold up. We use them a lot! We sit on them, eat on them, the kids wipe their snot on them, spit-up...yes, we know how to be rough on our pillows. I wasn't sure if the fabric glue method would work or not, but I wanted some new fall pillows and I wanted them fast!

I picked up three Dwell Studio for Target napkins at the thrift store specifically for turning into pillows. I couldn't pass on that print even if there were only three! But I only needed two of them for this pillow. For this project you'll need:


DIY Easy No-Sew Zippered Pillow Cover Supplies


  1. Two 18" or 20" cloth napkins(mine were about 18") that have been washed and dried.
  2. A bottle of PERMANENT fabric glue
  3. An 18" zipper 
  4. An 18" or 20" pillow insert, depending on napkin size.
First thing, iron your napkins and your zipper. I don't always take the time to iron the zipper if I'm sewing, but for this you need to iron it because the zipper will pull away from the fabric where it's creased.

DIY Easy No-Sew Zippered Pillow Cover

Now lay your zipper down with the zipper facing up. Squeeze a line of glue down one side of the zipper.

DIY Easy No-Sew Zippered Pillow Cover

Next, lay the edge of your napkin down on top of the glued side of the zipper. Press it down good. It will be a little oozy so be prepared to wipe up some excess glue. And you probably should not do what I did and try it on carpet. I probably thought it would be a great idea to watch Merlin while doing this.

Merlin is a good idea. Working on a project that uses fabric glue on carpet is not. Put down some newspaper or something.

DIY Easy No-Sew Zippered Pillow Cover

Do the same thing with the other side of the zipper. A line of glue and then press on the second napkin. I stopped here and waited for the glue to completely dry before I finished the sides. This is also where I moved it off the carpet so I wouldn't find it stuck the next morning.

DIY Easy No-Sew Zippered Pillow Cover

After the glue is good and dry, trim the ends of your zipper just a bit if any part sticks out past the napkin edge. Then lay out your cover face down and draw a line of glue all the way around the edge except the zipper.

DIY Easy No-Sew Zippered Pillow Cover

Pay special attention to the zipper. You only want to put glue up to the metal bars on the zipper. Any farther and it will seal it shut completely. Now fold the napkins over to complete the cover, lining up the corners and pressing them together. 

The area near the zipper might not want to lay closed. I put a little extra glue there and then set something on top of each zipper end to keep them shut. Just let it dry for several hours.

DIY Easy No-Sew Zippered Pillow Cover

Check the edges of the cover before stuffing to make sure everything adhered correctly. If everything looks good, go ahead and gently stuff it with the insert. Wahlaa! A super easy no-sew zippered pillow cover out of a couple cheap napkins!

DIY Easy No-Sew Zippered Pillow Cover

DIY Easy No-Sew Zippered Pillow Cover

DIY Easy No-Sew Zippered Pillow Cover

I know it's not as durable as sewing, but it's a great way to make a pillow fast with minimum work. It's a method probably best reserved for seasonal pillows, guest rooms, and rarely used sunrooms, but we'll see how this one holds up here. It has held up to Little Man jumping on it for 5 days now. I'm kinda impressed. 

This goes together in about a day's worth of time and most of that is just for drying. So grab some napkins you really love and have yourself some new pillows quick, easy, and cheap! Let me know if you try your own. I'd love to hear how they turned out!








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