The Lounge Act

We are a family of loungers. Busy bodies when we have to be, at the end of the day, or on a lucky weekend we can be found lazying around on our bellies reading magazines (or Star Wars books), stretched out on our backs across the couch watching television, or in a lounge chair, and now our hammock, doing nothing but staring at the trees. When our extended family comes to visit they lounge too. Loungers I tell you. For this reason we require, and acquire a lot of pillows. When we moved, I packed two XL boxes full of throw pillows and 2 over-sized bags of bed pillows, with no assigned beds. I was about to donate most of these guys, when it occurred to me that they would make perfectly good stuffing for floor pillows.

Lounging opportunities in our backyard
I made a prototype using two 2x3 jute/cotton area rugs and two king size pillows. Jute can be really soft, but it weathers well, so it works as an indoor/outdoor material, and both are breathable, making it more comfortable than a synthetic outdoor textile, perfect for our cotton rope hammock. To make your own, here's what you'll need:

Start out by making a pocket. Match the rugs together, good sides out. Using heavy duty thread, and an embroidery needle, make 1/2" hand stitches along one length and two sides. Insert pillows, position and pin along the opening, starting in the center, taking care to align any pattern. Carefully stitch closed, starting at one end, removing pins as you go. That's it!