November 18, 2012

Easy Decorative Pillowcase!

We are gearing up for the holidays around our house, and I decided to give the family room pillows a facelift.

This thing I love about this project is that the pillow can be covered without damaging the original, which is great for ones that were handmade - or for sentimental race-day favorites, that just don't match the room, or have gotten a little shabby. And they are removable so they can be washed!

Directions, with pictures. Ready?

Step 1: Start with a doubled piece of fabric that is about 6-8 inches longer than the pillow (you can't tell that in the picture) and about an inch wider on each side. I use about a half inch seam allowance on these so I have wiggle room if they don't match up perfectly.














 
Step 2: Open the fabric. Place it good side UP on the table. Fold the bottom up so it covers about 3/4 of the pillow and the folded edge is at the bottom of the pillow. Iron the bottom edge.















Step 3: Fold the top down so the top fold is even with the top of the pillow. Iron the top edge. Now fold the edge back a few inches to make a little pocket. Iron that little pocket. This will make a nice finished edge on the pillow when you are done.
















Step 4: Put the side with the little pocket under the other flap.















Step 5: Take your inside-out pillowcase to the sewing machine and sew the two sides. When you sew don't fold anything just sew right on down each side in a straight line. In the pic I just folded it back to show the little pocket.















Step 6: Now turn the pillow case right side out.















Step 7: Put the pillow in the case. The fabric should overlap, creating a nice, closed fold. If you want you could add buttons, ribbon, or Velcro to keep the seam shut.















Ta-da! It's amazing how much new pillows can change the look of a room. For 3 yards of sale fabric I covered 3 pillows and made a runner for the coffee table with enough left over for a few random crafty things. Can't beat that!

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