Super Simple Pillowcase Sewing Tutorial

This pillowcase is seriously easy to make. And you can readily take it off to wash it. Or use the same pillow forms with different pillowcases, making them cheap holiday decorations that are easy as pie.

YOU WILL NEED:

• pillow form of any size – it’s up to you

• fabric (the amount depends on the size of pillow form you want to cover)

• basic sewing stuff like scissors, thread, iron, sewing machine

• anything you want to adorn your pillowcase with (ribbon, fabric paint, etc.)

DIRECTIONS (each step correlates with the picture above):

Before you start sewing: Iron your fabric to get out all the creases and wrinkles. Measure the length of fabric to go around your pillow and overlap. So say you have a 12×12″ pillow form, you will cut a rectangle of fabric that is 12.5″ wide and about 30″ long (this should allow 1/4″ seams).

1- Press and hem the ends of your rectangle (going the long way). These are the pieces that will be overlapped, so you’ll want them to finished off.

2- Measure and fold your fabric so that it makes the right size of square. So for that 12×12″ pillow form, you will want that square to measure 12″ exactly, or maybe even a quarter inch smaller so that it fits nice and snug. Make sure your back is overlapping correctly, and pin down the sides.

3- Sew the sides. Make sure to do the 1/4″ seam allowance we planned for earlier. (If it ends up being a teensy bit smaller, like I said in the last step, it will just fit nice and snug….but don’t make it too much smaller or your pillow form will bunch inside).

4- Flip the pillowcase right side out. Make sure to pull out the corners really well. And you can iron it again if you need to - it will probably look nicer if you do.

5- Slide your pillow inside using the overlapped opening in the back. If your pillowcase isn’t snug enough the opening might not want to stay overlapped and tight – you can easily fix this with a button or velcro.

And that’s pretty it!

These are fun to make in coordinating fabrics. Or once you get the pillowcase made you can use fabric paint to personalize it before you slide it on the pillow. Or, you can use ribbons, ric rac, flowers, or whatever to make your pillows exactly how you want them!