Envelope Pillowcase How-To

 
 
So you did want the tutorial :)

I love making pillowcases. They are such an inexpensive and quick way to change the mood and décor in a room. Make them mostly with zippers so they are reversible but sometimes I just don't have a zipper on hand but feel the urge to make a pillowcase anyway. Enter the envelope closure.

This is an easy enough project so if you are missing a last minute gift and have a bit of fabric and half an hour or so to spare you can whip up one (or a couple) of these. Here's how:

Cut a length of fabric the width of the pillow that you want to make the pillowcase for + seam allowance.

The length should be 2 x the length of the pillow + an additional 15-20 cm (6-8 inches) or so to overlap + seam allowance.

The envelope overlap depends on the size of the pillow, bigger pillow more overlap. For the pillowcase I'm making here which is for a 45x45 cm (17 3/4 x 17 3/4 inches) pillow my piece of fabric measured: 48 x 116 cm (18 3/4 x 45 3/4 inches).

Start off by pressing a seam at both short ends of the fabric. You can make the seam wider than this if you want to but my fabric wasn't wider so this is what I was left with. Works fine though.

Sew the pressed seam and...

 

...zig zag stitch the long edges to prevent the fabric from fraying. My fabric here's by Anna Maria Horner btw.

 

Now your piece of fabric is ready to be "assembled" into a pillowcase. This is simply done by laying the fabric wrong side down and folding the edged over so they overlap. Measure as you are doing this so pillow will be the correct size in the end. Pin the fabric together and stitch along the pins.

  

Turn right side out and press with a iron and there's your pillowcase. It can be a little tricky to get your pillow in there as you have sort of an obstacle in the way inside but if you wiggle around a little with your hand in there along with the pillow you'll get there.

While I was at it I made three. Like I said, it's quick and easy.

Ps. Another interview with me is up on Lipstick on Your Teeth if your curious. Thank you, Alison! 

 

Comments

[Merel]

Thanks Benita! Funny, I thought you already posted this some time ago and went through all the archives yesterday late at night, with no luck of course. And now I wake up and you posted the tutorial :) Great! Thanks!

[Judith]

I too have discovered the glory of homemade pillowcases - it's a great remedy for boredom and/or a dull couch/bed/chair. Question: Have you found any of those polka-dotted fabrics recently, and in the Stockholm area? If so, where? I'm craving dots but I can't find them anywhere!

[Carlos]

I got both the large and small polka dot fabrics at Åhléns. I think I still saw them the other day so you may be in luck!

[Judith]

TypePad HTML Email

What in the world...In my mind that’s the first place I looked.
Maybe they snuck them in there the day after I was there! Thanks!

 

[Paula]

I'm gonna give it a try!
:)

[Karin]

Thanks for your beautiful and inspiring blog, Benita! I have been following it for a while but seeing that it's Christmas, I wanted to say thanks to you. :) Karin from Germany

[Gina :]

Thank you for posting this. I've been wanting to make these for awhile but hadn't figured out a method just yet. The fabric is beautiful.

[Elisabeth - anyhow.se]

Det där blir ju helfint - TACK för instruktioner! :)
Er gran var absolut superfin också!
En gigantisk God Jul!

[jodi]

great tutorial thanks for sharing!

[Franziska]

the link didn't function when I wanted to open it. I used this one: lipstick on your teeth
I enjoyed reading the interview.

Thanks a lot for the tutorial. I made my living room pillow cases in a quite similar way but also learned something new through this tutorial. Thanks!

[Carlos]

I fixed the link. Thanks!

[lsaspacey]

That's also my favorite way to cover pillows! I don't need the hassle of buttons, velcro, or zippers anymore.

[Blake]

Lovely! Thanks for the tutorial. Now I just need to figure out how to use my sewing machine... how embarrassing :)

[maria]

God jul och tack för din som alltid inspirerande blogg :)

[Skooks]

Thank you for doing this! I will definitely give it a try since the last time I decided to try this and "winged it" it turned out terrible. Easy, yes. Now anyway!

[finn-lily.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for this! It might seem easy but for someone like me that loves to follow their tutorials it wasn't easy trying to figure out how to make pillowcases without the zippers on them - and therefore never tried. This is to simple, and I really should have realised they'd work perfectly on this size, too, as they work on the bed! Doh! But, yes, thanks :))

[Jenn]

Haven't made pillowcases in a long time, but you make it look so easy. I have yet to learn to sew zippers, but envelope closures are great. I even add snaps so that it doesn't buckle too much in the back (and keeps my kids from ripping the covers off the pillows).

[chelsea]

I really love this -its by far the easiest thing I've whipped up in a long time. I blogged about it and linked to your tutorial. You can check out my results...

http://spicklebee.blogspot.com

[Jutta]

Thank you for the tutorial! I haven't touched a sewing machine for over 15 years, but encouraged by how simple the tutorial looked, I decided to give it a try. Now I have successfully sewn 2 pillowcases! And I have more fabric lined up waiting to make some more...

[Anon]

Thank you so much! I just made a real cute mini cushion cover, which I'll put lavender in. I'm a bit of a silly person, and I didn't really understand how to pin it together ready for the final cover, I figured it out, but I was just wondering if you could make that a little clearer (for other people). Thank you for the great tutorial.