Sew Easy Pillows!

Pillows are a great way to change the feel/look of a room.  I am always on the lookout for new pillows, but whenever I find some I like, I HATE the price!  Who is tired of paying $40 for one stinking pillow?  Each and every one of you, that’s who!  I know that I am, and now thanks to my friend, who showed me how to make an easy pillow cover, I will never pay that again!

I found this amazing fabric at a store near my house, for only $5, which covered 2 pillows and I even still have some left!  I love a great deal!  The great part of this pillow cover is that you can cover any old pillow that you have at your house that you don’t like or want anymore.  You know you have some of ‘those’ pillows laying around somewhere.  All you have to do is find some fabric you love, do a little sewing and voila you have an expensive looking pillow for just the cost of your fabric.

To make this pillow cover you will need the following:

• fabric
• sewing machine/thread
• cutting mat
• acrylic ruler
• rotary fabric cutter
• straight pins

Don’t let that list scare you.  If you have that stuff great, if not, no big deal.  Well…you do need the fabric, sewing machine and pins for sure!  My friend had the ruler, cutter and mat so I used those to make my first pillow cover.  I wanted to make another pillow cover at my house, so I stopped at Walmart to purchase a mat, ruler and cutter, but they were too expensive so I didn’t buy anything!  I was not going to spend $30 to get those things when I have numerous wood rulers and scissors at home.  My second pillow turned out just as great at the first one!  So take that, you fancy fabric cutting supplies…you are not needed!  But, it would be nice to have them!

Okay, let’s begin.

Step 1:   Put your pillow in the middle of your fabric (if your old pillow cover comes off you can use that to measure, if not just use your whole pillow, either way works fine) and fold over one end of fabric to almost the other side of pillow.  Pull snugly.

Step 2:  Fold other end over to cover pillow, like you are wrapping it, then fold it back over leaving the fabric overlapping about a length of your hand.  Reach under the top fabric to find the edge of your bottom fabric then fold it at about your wrist. 

Step 3:  Now put a pin at the folded line to mark your length.

     

Step 4/5:  Using your ruler, start at your pin, and draw a straight line to the top of your fabric.  Next use your fabric cutter pressed up against the ruler, or your scissors, and cut the fabric. 

Step 6:  Place your old pillow cover/pillow a 1/2 inch from the bottom of your fabric.  Now using your ruler, measure from the bottom of the fabric to a 1/2 inch over the top of the cover.   So, you will have a 1/2 inch extra on the top and bottom of your old cover. 

Step 7/8:  Take your height measurement from step 6, and using your ruler, start at one end of your fabric and mark the height periodically until you get to the end of the fabric.  Now using the straight edge of your ruler attach all the lines you made to make one long straight line.  Now cut the line using cutter or ruler.  Now you have the correct size of fabric.  No more cutting!

 

Step 9:  Fold over each end of the fabric (not the top or bottom) about 3/4 inch and pin, putting in enough pins to hold your fabric down while you sew.

Step 10:  Sew a straight line from top to bottom on both sides of the fabric that you pinned.

   

Step 11:   Place old cover/pillow in the middle of fabric.  Fold one end over, then the other, overlapping the fabric.  Here you will determine if you want the opening in the middle or on the side.    Once you have it where you like it, put  2 pins in where the 2 pieces of fabric meet and end to keep the overlapping in place. 

Step 12:  Measure the pinned bottom.  Then measure the top to make sure it is equal.  Once the top equals the same measurement as the bottom, pin the top where the 2 fabrics meet.

Okay, here is where we kind of messed up. We really should have had the fabric inside out at this point, but since we didn’t, we just carefully flipped it inside out, avoiding the pins.

Step 13/14:  Making sure the fabric is inside out, pin along the top and the bottom of the fabric.  Now sew, 1/2 inch from the side, the top and the bottom shut!

Step 15:  You are done with the cover!  Flip the cover to the right side and stuff your pillow into it!  This is what the back will look like.  My pillow is down so that is why it kind of bulges at the middle.

 

I loved how it turned out, but wanted to add a little something more to it to so I made one of these cute felt flowers for it!  I pinned the flower on instead of gluing it, so that I can change it whenever I want!

 

How great does the pillow look?  Amazing, I know!    Want to know what else is amazing?  That totally sweet old turquoise door (in the background) that I also got a great deal on!  Phew, I am on a roll, with scoring great deals.  You want to go shopping with me, don’t you?

I can’t wait to go find some more awesome fabric and cover all of my old pillows!  The best part of my pillows…the cost!  Two pillows cost me a whopping $5!  I am such a big spender!

    

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