We love our Ikea Antilop Chair, but it does lack the plush padding present on more expensive highchairs. We prefer this because it makes the Antilop ultra-easy to clean. Still, when Scribble first started solids he was not a professional sitter, so we thought a supportive pillow might be a good idea. I happened upon an old airline pillow we had laying around.  We used that for a while, but I got tired of washing the tiny pillowcase all the time.  I thought it would be a good idea to cover the pillow in oilcloth, but oilcloth is awfully expensive! I remembered that I had an extra flannel-backed vinyl tablecloth sitting unused in our pantry. It was red gingham — a perfect match for our Antilop!

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 If you want to create a similar highchair pillow, you need:

– 1 small pillow (I used an airline pillow, but you could use a small decorative pillow or make one!)
– 1 vinyl tablecloth (Gingham worked well for us; it is a classic print, matched perfectly with the Antilop, and it helped me to cut straight lines).
– Sewing machine (you could hand-sew this but it would be difficult)
– Pins

If you look at the construction of an envelope-backed pillowcase you’ll see that it is one large piece of fabric, with the ends overlapping in the middle. Almost exactly how wrapping paper overlaps itself when you are wrapping a gift. So you will do  the same for your pillow!

Place the pillow on the left edge of your tablecloth, at least two inches from the top of the pillow (this two inch margin will allow space for the top seam of the pillow). Remember that a pillow is squishy and, of course, fatter in the middle than on the ends, so when you are measuring for the three inches of fabric at the top, flatten the pillow with your hand to give a more accurate sense of how much space the pillow will actually fill. Always err on the side of more room; you can cut the pillowcase down to size later once it is finished.

Pillow forms actually exist to make the process of measuring for a pillowcase easier, but since my pillow was not a standard size, I had to wing it!

Loosely wrap the tablecloth around the pillow until it is completely covered, with a generous amount of overlap in the middle of the pillow. Do this in a way that the hemmed edge of the tablecloth is the outer, overlapping edge of the pillowcase. Using a pen or pin, mark where you want to cut, then unroll the fabric. Cut down from the top of the tablecloth on the line you made. Then cut the bottom of the pillowcase, at least 3 inches from the bottom of the long side of the pillow, remembering again that a pillow is puffy so extra room is always ideal.

At this point you are going to pin your pillowcase for sewing. Turn the vinyl fabric inside out, then place your pillowcase in the middle of the material and again loosely wrap it like a gift with material overlapping in the middle. This time, make the finished seam of the tablecloth the inner part of the wrapping (you’ll be turning this whole thing inside out so whatever is not visible now will be visible in your finished project). Place pins where needed to maintain the pillow form (one at the top and bottom of the middle, overlapping seam, one at the top of the pillow where you want to create the edge of the pillowcase– make sure to keep it loose), then slip the pillow out.

Now, sew your top and bottom edge of the pillow. Err on the side of a too-big pillowcase; you can always make it smaller but you can’t make it bigger! No need to finish the edge of the seam in the middle because the tablecloth hem does that for you!

My sister doing the sewing– she’s a proficient!

Turn your now-finished pillowcase rightside-out and fit your pillow inside. Is it too loose? If so, turn it inside-out again and re-sew it to make the pillowcase skinnier. Once you have a pillowcase that is sufficiently snug, cut any excess fabric from your pillowcase, turn it right-side-in, and stuff away!

Scribble, his pillow, and a slice of mango!

Let me know how you’ve customized your baby gear!