Coastal Pillowcases Tutorial
There is truly nothing simpler to sew then a pillowcase. This would make a GREAT beginner project. Just because it's easy, though, doesn't mean that a girl couldn't use instructions! So here we go!
Material needed:
1 yard fabric ($8/ fancy yard**- you could do better by shopping sales)
Bias tape- don't NEED but we'll discuss below/ or scrap fabric
Total cost: Roughly 10 dollars/pillowcase
**Please note. These pillowcases were made for a present. So I had them custom-made through Spoonflower. I found jpeg's of where my parents had lived, and where they were moving too- uploaded the images and got custom fabric made. So my price was higher. To those willing to shell out the bucks, you can make some truly wonderful pillows with truly special fabric (at @$25/yard, so don't say I didn't warn you).
So first, WASH your fabric so it shrinks to its final size, then IRON it before you start. Just trust me and don't skip this step, or you'll regret it.
Next, lay our your fabric length-wise. That should be roughly 54" of normal fabric. Cut 9'inches the width of the fabric:
Next, iron 1/4" seams onto both sides of the 9" trim- towards the back:
So I said I was going to have a chat about bias tape, so here it is. You could just use scrap fabric and fold in half, then fold in half again to make it, but that's annoying. And since I usually have bias tape lying around for its amazing uses, I just by it when I have a project in mind, and save myself a lot of time. My new favorite place to by it is Custom Threads 1 on Etsy. For this project, I bought the 10 yards for $4.50, and only used about 1.5 yards, it cost me less than a dollar, and- yay! No heartache.
That said, I cut roughly 55" of bias tape for my trim. (note, I was making 4 of these cases, so there are multiple strips- you only need 1/case).
I know I said pillowcases are easy - and they are - but now is a slightly tricky part. You're going to make a 3-piece sandwhich... Take you're big piece of fabric, and by the short side (width) pin the bias tape (open side, so the fold is facing the majority of fabric) , then pin the 9" strip with the right side facing the wrong side of the main fabric. Confused? This took me a moment as well. The strip will eventually fold over and the right side will meet the right side of the fabric once all is done. Take a close look at the pics below.
Material needed:
1 yard fabric ($8/ fancy yard**- you could do better by shopping sales)
Bias tape- don't NEED but we'll discuss below/ or scrap fabric
Total cost: Roughly 10 dollars/pillowcase
**Please note. These pillowcases were made for a present. So I had them custom-made through Spoonflower. I found jpeg's of where my parents had lived, and where they were moving too- uploaded the images and got custom fabric made. So my price was higher. To those willing to shell out the bucks, you can make some truly wonderful pillows with truly special fabric (at @$25/yard, so don't say I didn't warn you).
So first, WASH your fabric so it shrinks to its final size, then IRON it before you start. Just trust me and don't skip this step, or you'll regret it.
Next, lay our your fabric length-wise. That should be roughly 54" of normal fabric. Cut 9'inches the width of the fabric:
 |
| Some of the fabric is spilling over the table on the left, if it doesn't seem long enough to be 54" |
So I said I was going to have a chat about bias tape, so here it is. You could just use scrap fabric and fold in half, then fold in half again to make it, but that's annoying. And since I usually have bias tape lying around for its amazing uses, I just by it when I have a project in mind, and save myself a lot of time. My new favorite place to by it is Custom Threads 1 on Etsy. For this project, I bought the 10 yards for $4.50, and only used about 1.5 yards, it cost me less than a dollar, and- yay! No heartache.
That said, I cut roughly 55" of bias tape for my trim. (note, I was making 4 of these cases, so there are multiple strips- you only need 1/case).
I know I said pillowcases are easy - and they are - but now is a slightly tricky part. You're going to make a 3-piece sandwhich... Take you're big piece of fabric, and by the short side (width) pin the bias tape (open side, so the fold is facing the majority of fabric) , then pin the 9" strip with the right side facing the wrong side of the main fabric. Confused? This took me a moment as well. The strip will eventually fold over and the right side will meet the right side of the fabric once all is done. Take a close look at the pics below.
Now, so a THIN line to bind them- as then as you can get while still binding them. I'm thinking 1/6". You could always do a a 1/4" from the edge stitch, but it will make it prettier if you can get away with 1/6" from the edge. But in the end? Do what works for you.
Now- trust me on this- go back and IRON the edges flat. Then FOLD over the 9" piece in half and IRON again. I hate ironing, I really do, but if you skip this step, you're in for heartache. BUT the good news is, that those of you that need to pin- can pin the flap onto the bias edge. Those of you who hate pinning like me? If you do a good job ironing, you can just slowly sew the flap to the bias tape (or half-pin like me).
Now- and this isn't to be debated- top stitch the flap to the bias tape. Top-stictching, for newbies, is stitching VERY closely to the edge. And, once again, go as close to the edge as you can, while not skipping over fabric.
Done with that? Awesome. So you're like 10 minutes from being done. With right-sides (printed) together, sew up your pillow! This means up one side, lift your foot at the end, then sew the other open side. And done! If you want to be uber-fancy, you can add a zig-zag stitch to your work to strengthen the seams and prevent fraying.
Once your done with that, you just cut your selvage (frayed parts), iron if you want, and you're done!
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