Convertible Pillow Pallets for Kids

It must have been a few years ago, when I was first on Pinterest. I saw this project that looked like such a great idea, but I had all kinds of questions about it. First off, I wanted to know: “Where do you store that when you aren’t using it?” Then I wondered, “How do you clean that?” And then I thought, “You know that really is genius.” But I thought, I would do that differently.

Fast forward a couple of years and I have a kid who sleeps on the floor – every.night. Yep. She refuses to pass the night in the comfort of her twin bed. And so I got to thinking about that pillow project and started formulating an idea to make her more comfortable and (possibly) to get her more interested in her bed.

So, I decided to make these, let’s call them: Convertible Pillow Pallets for my girls. I just knew they would love them! And I was right…big time!

My middle child came up to me and said, “I like my pillow pallet. What store did you get it at?”

And I have to admit that I was little bit proud to say, “I didn’t get them at the store. I made them!”

As I look back at the picture I saw a couple of years ago (above, original source unknown) that I had only in my head as I did this project, I realize I changed some things about it to make it more functional for us: 1) I reduced the amount of pillows in the pillow “chain.” and 2) I made the pillow cases open, so that we could insert/remove pillows as necessary for cleaning and to get rid of worn out pillows.

I am by no means what I would call a “seamstress.” I can, in fact, barely sew using a sewing machine. But there are projects that are so simple (or that look so simple) even I can confidently attempt to do them. I saw a picture some time back of a simple “pillow pallet” that I definitely wanted to try for our girls. We had a lot of pillows (too many pillows) and some sheets that were just asking to be part of this project. So the other day I sat down and got to work on creating this project.

Though it is ultra-simple, I always run into some problems because I have spatial reasoning problems – seriously. But this time around the problem I ran into was not major and was easily fixed. All told the project probably took me 2 hours (including the time it took to rip two seams) to make 2 Convertible Pillow Pallets. So, if you are an experienced seamstress, you will probably be able to complete it in just under an hour.

Here’s what I used to make two (2) Convertible Pillow Pallets:

2 flat twin sheets
6 pillows
thread and sewing machine
a measuring tape

How to Make Convertible Pillow Pallets

Place two twin sheets on flat surface or floor, right sides together, with top edge of sheets at opposite ends from each other.

Note: by right side, I am referring to the side of the sheet that does not show seams.

2. Using either a pillow or pillow case placed on the sheets, mark the length (adding at least 5/8” for seam allowance), and cut on the line across the width of the sheets. You will note that you can lay three pillows evenly on top of the twin sheets at either end of the sheets – to make 2 pillow pallets. You should be able to use standard size pillows or a king size pillows.

3. Sew 5/8” seams in the two short sides and the long edge that was cut in Step 3, The result is a big, long pouch.

4. This is the important part! Turn pouch right side out.

5. Fold pouch in thirds, press with iron. Stitch on the 2 fold creases to form 3 “pillowcases.”

6. Insert pillows into the 3 pillowcase pouches.

That’s it! They are really that simple. As I said, they are convertible – turning into a chair (or a couch, as my oldest calls them) or a bed/pallet whenever they want to change them. (NOTE: a HUGE thank you to my friend, Ada, for helping me to communicate these directions to you!)

And I discovered that the three pillow option for this stores very nicely on the shelf in their closet – but we have not stored them yet because the girls use them all day every day! I really love that they are completely versatile and I can get to every part of it and to clean without an issue.

Seriously, our girls have been using these EVERY where they can. They love them for movie night, for sitting on their beds and reading (during quiet time) and my youngest girl, for sleeping on the floor at night.