Make a Foam Inflating Camping Pillow

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This is an Instructable for a self inflating camping pillow. The pillow is filled with polyurethane foam inside a plastic case which fills the pillow with air but can be easily be deflated, compacted and stored.

MATERIALS // TOOLS

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MATERIALS

/ Soft shell fleece

https://www.fabricline.com/ProductDetail.php?rctno...

/ Leather scrap

http://www.tandyleather.com/en-usd/home/home.aspx

/ Polyurethane foam

I used an old mattress pad http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/5-zo...

/ Ziplock gallon bag

http://www.amazon.com/Ziploc-Double-Zipper-Gallon-...

TOOLS

/ Tape

/ Fabric sheers

/ Iron

/ Aluminum Foil

CUT OUT THE FOAM

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/ Cut out the polyurethane foam

/ Cut out two sides if your using the mattress topper from bed bath and beyond so it has good cushion

PUT THE FOAM IN THE BAG

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/ Bunch the foam up and stuff it into the bag

/ Poke holes in the bag so it can be deflated

IRON THE BAG SHUT

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/ This step is to seal the bag and remove the ziplock

/ Bunch the foam to the opposite side of the ziplock

/ Turn the iron to medium

-too cool wont create a good seal and too hot will melt the plastic to the foil

/ Create a foil sleeve around where your going to iron the seam so you don't ruin your iron

/ After the seam is created you can cut out the ziplock

SEW THE PILLOW CASE

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/ The material is a microfiber soft shell fleece. It has good breathability, waterproof and has a nice soft outside.

/ Cut out the pattern

/ Sew around the pieces with them facing each other

/ Reverse the pillowcase so its right side out

/ Stuff the foam bag into the case

/ Finish with an outside seam to close the pillow

LEATHER STRAP

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/ I got this piece of leather from a scrap bag from Tandy Leather. Its pretty thick and hard to sew without an awl.

/ Using the Juki without any thread and slowly walked the leather through by hand to make the perforations.

/ Remember to use a long baste stitch since leather can tear easily with a closer stitch.

/ Use a leather needle and thread to finish the seams by hand.