New Cover for Your Boppy

When I was pregnant with the Sprout, my sister gave me her old Boppy.  This pillow made it through her three babies and my little Sprout.  I love this pillow and it's still in great shape!  But I decided that it really needed some freshening up before baby number 2 comes along.  The recover was very easy to do and took less than an hour!

(In my posts, I assume readers have basic machine sewing skills.  But if I'm clear as mud, please post a comment or email me - I'm happy to answer questions!) 

Supplies needed:  One yard of cotton fabric, 45" wide AND 3/8 yard contrast fabric 

OR  1-1/4 yard cotton fabric, 45" wide

One 22-24" zipper that matches your fabric.

Sewing machine & matching thread

The cover has a zipper so I just unzipped it and used a seam ripper to remove the zipper in order to reuse on the next cover.  

I had "owls" as my baby shower theme and my mother-in-law spied this piece of fabric.  She bought a yard, ended up not having a use for it, and gave it to me.  The one-yard piece was just the right amount to recover the boppy!  

Using the seam ripper, also rip out the band at the inner curve of the boppy.  

I laid the old boppy fabric on top of the new and used it as my pattern to cut out the top and bottom.

And this is the part where I got in the sewing groove and forgot to take pictures so I'm going to do my best to describe what I did.  Put your new top and bottom right sides together.  Using your old cover as a guideline, mark where the zipper went with pins and baste shut between your pins.  Sew the new zipper in following the manufacturer's directions.  

Remove the basting.   

Use the old band piece as a pattern to cut out the new band piece (you only need one).  Make sure you cut it on the bias/diagonal as shown otherwise the fabric won't stretch into the curve the way you'll need it to.  

Use the fold lines from the old band to help create the folds on the ends of the new band and pin it, right sides together, to the new top and bottom.  Sew it into place.  I used only a 1/2" seam for this part.

Pin the remainder of the top and bottom together and stitch the rest of the boppy closed.  Work the zipper to open it and flip it all right sides out.  Put your new cover on and admire your handy work!.

Now, if you used your pillow on your own baby, reminisce.

Here's the Sprout at 1 month old in the old Boppy:

Sniff, sniff!  NOW here he is at 8 months in the new Boppy, keeping it warm for his new sibling on the way:

My gosh, they do not stay little!