Pillowcase Tutorial

At our meeting this month, I shared a pillowcase method I've used many times for holiday or souvenir pillowcases. I love having a little project that makes a bed look festive or is a reminder of a place or event. I have everything from Seahawks to Louisiana crawfish on my bed throughout

the year.

Christmas Swap!

Well evidently it seemed fun because it was suggested (thanks Vanessa) we swap pillowcases for Christmas! Should be a quick and fun project, and as before, we're going to try to create to please our fellow swappers. Here is a link to a quick google preferences survey:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYoznJnQjXt4o9FtA2WoNsZibnc_7UvP75Ighk4JQntDYjcg/viewform?usp=dialog

If you'd like to be a part of this new tradition, please fill it out before the next meeting, October 10th.

So here goes the tutorial;

1. Cut fabrics. For a standard pillow, cut one width of fabric piece at 24" ( body fabric), one at 12" (cuff fabric), and one at 2" (accent fabric). (A king pillowcase is generally 10" larger, so add that to your cuts, or measure the pillow and do your own calculations.) This one fit my 29" x 19" pillow.

   

   Standard pillowcase fabrics cut

2. Iron the 2" accent fabric in half.

3. Lay the body of the pillowcase right side up, long side at the top, the accent piece on top of it with the edges matching, and then the cuff fabric right side down.

   
   

   

4. Pin the top edges together.

5. Turn project over, and roll up the main fabric piece into a small roll, smaller than the cuff.

   

6. Pull the cuff up to cover the roll of the main fabric and using the pins in the project, pin it to the top edges.

   

7. Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.

   

8. Pull the filling (rolled up main fabric out of the burrito. Now you can see a cuff along the top with the sewn edges encased and the accent fabric on the right side of the pillowcase.

   

   Grab the main fabric inside and keep pulling it through the tube until it's out.

9. Fold the pillowcase in half, cuff at the top and wrong sides together. Trim the edges flat, taking any selvedge off.

   

   Looking like a pillowcase!

10. Pin or clip the pillowcase edges, paying particular attention to make sure the cuff and accent fabric on each side line up.

    

11. Sew a 1/8" quarter seam along the side and bottom of the pillowcase. Alternatively, a 1/4" seam can go here and then be trimmed down to 1/8" This method trims off any threads along the edge, which is helpful. Trim the two corners off, not cutting into the seam.

    

12. Turn the pillowcase inside out, pushing the seam into the edge. Iron the edge to make sure the seam is on the edge.

    

    Make sure the seam is at the edge so the edges are encased in the french seam (next!)

13. Sew a 1/4" seam. This encapsulates the previous seam inside so there are no raw edges inside the pillowcase.

    

14. Fini! A beautiful handmade pillowcase!