When you sit crossed legged, do your knees reach for the sky rather than the floor and you have to hold on tight to your knees? Or does your back curve into a permanent cat pose? Maybe your hips feel tight and you look like you are going to fall backwards?
Well, I know how you feel. I was in the first camp for many years. I am pleased to say that my knees are lower. There is still room for improvement, but I am happy that it’s going in the right direction.
I started off sitting on a yoga block, but it’s not the most comfortable of things, especially if your bottom is a bit larger than the block!!
One of my 1-2-1 yoga clients turned up to their session with a meditation pillow which I tried and it was just what my hips wanted, it was a nice size and it just allowed my hips to relax and my knees to open. It was a bit of a eureka moment. I needed to get myself one of those!
I am a bit of a sewing hobbyist and make lavender bags for my clients (£6 if you want one!) so, off I went in the search of a pattern. It didn’t take me long to find one. All I needed now was the parts, fabric, cotton and the filling.
I try to be environmentally friendly, so I looked for clothes that I could cut up to size. I found an old denim shirt for the edges and a pair of my hubbies jeans for the centre sections.
I gave them a wash and an iron then cut out the parts. The next stage was to add the pleats and make the pillow cover. I must confess, that my first pillow took me about 5 hours to sew and fill. The instructions weren’t easy to follow (that’s my excuse anyway!!)
I needed to work out what to fill it with next. It needed to be comfortable to sit on, my initial thought was to use rags, but the pattern I used said they had tried that and it wasn’t comfortable. So, I could use stuffing or buckwheat husks. I decided on the latter and made sure I bought organic.
The funniest part was trying to fill the pillow. I used my jam funnel, which has a wide neck, but the buckwheat just went everywhere. Hubby came in and made me a toilet roll shaped end for my funnel out of some used paper, that meant the buckwheat actually went in the pillow. The final piece was to sew up the filling hole and TA DAH my personal pillow was ready.
Since then, I have made at least 10 pillows. Each one using different fabrics and colours in line with the purchasers’ requirements.
If you would like a pillow, please let me know. I continue to make them out of old (clean) clothes. The fabric needs to be firm or thick (but not stretchy), like a velvet or upholstery fabric. Someone even asked me to make them one out of their mum’s old curtains. Just to give you inspiration for the pillow.
I charge £30 for the pillow if I have to find the fabric, or £25 if you provide me with the fabric. If you are interested, send me a message and we can work out the finer details.
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