Pillow Case Sew Along

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”~Theodore Roosevelt

Elizabeth wanted to make pillow cases to match a quilt she made for Alice. Of course, a post about the quilt will be coming in the future. Since Elizabeth lives hours away from me, we decided to sew together via our phones. I would give Elizabeth instructions and a video, and she would follow along with what I was doing. Let’s see if you can follow along! This might turn out to be a functional tutorial for someone wanting to make pillow cases!

The first thing we did was cut our fabric. For a regular size pillow case you need main fabric 41in X 27in. tall, cuff fabric 41in X 9in, and trim fabric 41in X 2 in.

Then you need to iron the trim fabric in half. My trim piece ironed.

Elizabeth’s trim piece.

You then pin the raw edge to the trim piece to the raw edge of the cuff.

Then you pin the raw edge of your main fabric to that same raw edge. Make sure the right side of the fabric is facing down.

So the three fabrics should be stacked and pinned like this.

You then take the main fabric and begin to roll in towards the pinned edge. Make sure you leave the unpinned cuff fabric out of the roll.

Like so!

You then take the unpinned edge of the cuff fabric, and pull it over the roll. Pin it to the rest of the pinned fabric.

Carefully sew all layers of the pinned fabric together.

Once it’s sewn you start to pull the main body fabric out of the center.

It should look like this.

Now, here’s where it’s gong to feel like you’re doing the wrong thing! Usually things are sewn with the right sides together. For pillow cases it’s nice to use French seams. French seams enclose the raw edges of the fabric in the seam. Confused? Don’t be, keep reading and looking!

Fold the pillow case in half, WRONG sides together. Pin the bottom and unfolded side together.

Sew along the two sides using a slightly smaller seam allowance than you usually use.

Turn the pillow case inside out and make sure you push out the seams you just made.

Elizabeth was following directions nicely!

Now sew along the same sides you just sewed, using your regular seam allowance.

When you turn the pillowcase right side out again you can see that there are no raw edges to fray on the inside!

Elizabeth’s finished product!

My finished product!

Pillow cases are a perfect project for beginners. You get to practice cutting, sewing straight, and you learn how to do French seams (ooh la la). They are also a great, custom gift to make for someone!

One year Grandma Doris gave me a set of pillow cases that she had embroidered pink flowers on. It was a simple gift but one of my most treasured!

If you quilt it’s always nice to have pillow cases to match your quilt. This is a quilt I made for Mia when she was in college, and it’s matching pillow case. Don’t mind the wrinkles, it’s on her bed now and I made her take a quick picture! The pillow cases and quilt is loved and used!

Try out making some pillow cases for yourself! Homemade gifts are always a favorite!

As for me, onto the next!