bathmat pillows

whilst watching the royal wedding on friday night - i stitched up a couple of bathmat pillows. (as you do!!)
the mats had never been stepped on - i bought them on sale earlier in the day!
i've made a couple of these before in our family room - i'll show pics of that room one day - but it's always the most used and busy - ie messiest room of the house!!
these type of pillows are available in the shops these days - but i still prefer my version as they are bigger, fluffy all over and i can have a say in how much fill is inside.
so here's the bathmat prior to stitching (mine were "mercer & reid - soho tufted bathmats" - from addairs - but you can pick up similar in most department stores around the place)
(please excuse the quality of these pics - it was late - and i was watching that wedding!!)

i folded the bathmat in half (tufted side facing out - wrong sides together) - and hand stiched the edges together.
i started with one side - finshed off the thread - then did the other side.
i then stitched the bottom edge - leaving a small section open to allow for filling - then stiched closed when happy with the shape. (i recycled the polyester filling from some old pillows i had stashed away)

below is the stitch i used - it is called 'saddler stitch' (that's all i could find on google) - i taught myself how to sew so have no idea if that's the real name ???????

essentially it's a stitch that butts the ends together so they become flat. (!?!)
if anyone out there in blog-land knows of a better name for this stitch - please do chime in!

here's a shot of the stitches......you can't really see them as i used white cotton - but it's that bit right in the middle (click on the pic - and you should get a closer look).....

once the pillow is filled - the seems become almost invisible........

and here's the finished product........all stuffed and ready to sit on........(i filled it well as i've found they tend to flatten down over time)

to keep clean i just surface clean when needed - and i'll perhaps undo one side seem, take out the filling and fully launder when required. (i'm lazy with zippers and buttons - and just find this method for this type of pillow easier).

here's my bathmat pillow teamed with some other pillows of mine......

left to right - ikea ektorp lumbar cushion in hovby white & black / can't remember where the 2nd one came from as we've had it forever! / mrs c's bathmat pillow in white !!

so that's my bathmat pillow method - hope you enjoyed it. 
i love the look and the feel - they're very robust as well as soft to feel.

hugz
mrs c. xox