Are you a meditation enthusiast or practitioner who’s been checking for the prices of buckwheat mediation pillows or zafus online after every meditation session? Are the prices you see sound horrendously high? Or, do you feel like what you see isn’t up to what you need? Whichever group you fall into, the good news is that you can make your own buckwheat mediation pillow at home with ease.
In the step-by-step guide below, you’ll learn about all you need to make the perfect buckwheat mediation pillow without spending much, while checking all the boxes for what you look for in an ideal meditation pillow.
Step 1: Getting All The Materials
To make the ideal zafu or buckwheat meditation pillow that won’t only meet your meditation needs, but also last a long time, you need to invest in quality materials that won’t give way after a few meditations sits. The two main components of a zafu are stuffing and the cloth to house the stuffing.
- Stuffing – There are often two types of stuffing used to fill the pillows: the kapok fiber and the buckwheat hulls. Most users prefer the latter, with some going for the more sustainable organic buckwheat hulls, as they’re cheaper, they fit and conform easily to the shape of the body, don’t flatten after several uses, and don’t require fluffing like the kapok fiber. If you’re after making a buckwheat meditation pillow, your stuffing choice is pretty obvious—buckwheat hulls.
- Cover Fabric – Before you select the cover fabric, consider the level of comfort you desire when sitting on the meditation pillow. You don’t want an itchy material or an uncomfortable material, and you sure don’t want a material that’ll make you slip off the pillow every time you get on it. The most recommended materials for a buckwheat meditation pillow cover would be a cotton/polyester blend, or a 100% cotton fabric for those who aren’t okay with the fabric blend. Don’t forget colors and patterns, too. You’ll want some fabric with a relaxing and soothing design that aligns with your state of mind.
Other items you’ll need include
- Marking chalk or pen
- Sharp pair of scissors
- Pins
- Zip (if necessary)
- Sewing machine
In order for you to clearly visualize how an ideal buckwheat meditation pillow looks like, here’s a short video you can watch:
Step 2: Fabric Cutting
The next step is to cut your fabric according to the size and shape you desire. Meditation pillows come in different sizes and shapes, but the most popular sizes for a buckwheat meditation pillow are 14×20 and 20×26.
While measuring, keep in mind that the wider the strip for the sides of the pillow, the higher it’ll be. Therefore, consider how high you want your pillow to be before you put in your measurements.
Again, cut out two circles measuring between 11-14 inches in diameter to serve as the upper and lower base of the meditation pillow. Once you have all these, then you’re good to go.
Step 3: Pleating
What is a meditation pillow without pleats? After cutting out the exact sizes for the cover fabrics, the next step is to mark up the wider side of the fabric to make pleats. You’ll need to mark about 14 pleats, measuring three to four inches each.
Each pleat has three marks; therefore, fold the second mark to allow the third mark to rest on top of the second one. Once properly done, pin the pleat in place. Do this over and over again until you have all your pleats set and pinned in place.
Step 4: Assembling And Sewing
Once your pleats are in place and properly ironed out to stay, and once you have the circles for the top and bottom, the next step is to stitch.
Stitch the right edge of the pleated strip along with the left end to put everything together. The inner area of the pleated endings serves as the place where the stuffing will be housed.
Before filling the pillow, turn the sewn pleated strips back so you can sew the pleated top and bottom circles together neatly. Don’t forget to leave the overlapping ends of the pleating strips open to put in the stuffing.
Step 5: Adding The Stuffing
After sewing, turn the fully sewn cover fabric inside out, and through the open pleated endings, carefully stuff the material with buckwheat hulls. Preferably, use about five lbs. of buckwheat hulls to stuff your pillow to keep it from being too full that it already overloads the cover material, as well as to keep it from being too heavy.
Once stuffed, you can hand-stitch the opening shut, or you can add a zipper to close the opening if you made an allowance for a zipper while measuring. Then, voila! Your buckwheat meditation pillow is ready for your meditation sessions, helping you achieve a much better you.
Conclusion
By following the above-mentioned steps, you can make your own simple but fully functional buckwheat meditation pillow that’s perfectly tailored to your taste. Plus, you can make as many as you want, of course!