As I mentioned before, I'm brand new to sewing so after reading this post please share with me any tips or tricks of your own! Anyways, My roommate and I recently decided to upgrade from our futon to an actual couch so I decided we needed to class up our new grown-up seating with some throw pillows! You've probably noticed that decorative pillows are pretty expensive so I decided to make them myself. After reading a few tutorials online I managed to create four cases that I'm pretty pleased with (see three below). Read through for instructions on how to make your own!
What you'll need:
Fabric
Sewing machine
Pillow insert*
Measuring tape
Pins
Scissors
Fabric pencil
Sewing machine
Pillow insert*
Measuring tape
Pins
Scissors
Fabric pencil
How To:
First - measure your pillow insert (mine was 20"x20") then measure your fabric (you'll cut out three panels):
1. The first will be the front and should be cut one inch bigger around than your pillow (so,
in my case I cut my first panel 21"x21").
2. The two other panels will be the back "envelope" folds and should have the same
measurement for the width but the height should be about 5-8 inches shorter (my back
panels measured 13"x21"). How much shorter the height should be really depends on the
pillow and the amount of stuffing it has - I'd just make sure you have at least 3 inches of
overlap.
Once you have your fabric measured (this is where I used my fabric pencil to mark where to cut) cut out your panels. From here I ironed the fabric but that's totally optional.
Next - Lay your panels down with the front panel facing up and the two back panels on top facing down - one overlapping the other - just to make sure everything lines up. Like this:
1. The first will be the front and should be cut one inch bigger around than your pillow (so,
in my case I cut my first panel 21"x21").
2. The two other panels will be the back "envelope" folds and should have the same
measurement for the width but the height should be about 5-8 inches shorter (my back
panels measured 13"x21"). How much shorter the height should be really depends on the
pillow and the amount of stuffing it has - I'd just make sure you have at least 3 inches of
overlap.
Once you have your fabric measured (this is where I used my fabric pencil to mark where to cut) cut out your panels. From here I ironed the fabric but that's totally optional.
Next - Lay your panels down with the front panel facing up and the two back panels on top facing down - one overlapping the other - just to make sure everything lines up. Like this:
Now you'll want to create a finished hem for the ends of the envelope folds - the bottom of one panel and the top of the other. To do this, pin the edges over about a half an inch.
Next up: lay your fabric out like you did before (large panel facing up and the other two facing down). Then pin around the edges.
In the first tutorial I read it said to sew 5/8 of an inch around the edge - I found that sewing 1 inch from the boarder was best. You can either mark the measurement onto the fabric or just eyeball it (which is what I ended up doing).
Now, if you're like me you're pumped to get this thing stitched up only to have your fabric get sort of sucked into the motor. You might remember from the top of this post that I'm brand new at sewing so when I saw this and couldn't get the fabric out I may have panicked a bit.
Now, if you're like me you're pumped to get this thing stitched up only to have your fabric get sort of sucked into the motor. You might remember from the top of this post that I'm brand new at sewing so when I saw this and couldn't get the fabric out I may have panicked a bit.
Fast forward about 30 minutes and a Google search later I was up and running and now you are too. Of course, if you're not like me then you've skipped this step and your hem now looks something like this:
Great job! Now just turn your pillowcase inside out then stuff the pillow insert in, and voila!
*Pillow insert tip: Ikea! Ikea has really inexpensive pillow inserts - the ones I used in this tutorial were only $2,99 each compared to $15 a piece at Michaels and Joann Fabrics.