Beginner Sewing Tutorial: Pillow Case

My mother in law showed me how to make these a few years back and I had a blast making holiday ones for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas last year.  At first I was going to just make a few for my girls but as I started making them, I had so much fun that I made them for everyone in my extended family.  And I am now getting requests for more. 

I swear I sleep better on my homemade pillow cases than I ever did before.  There is just something about that special little touch that makes everything better.  And a pillow case is one of those little things that brings a smile to your face at the end of a busy or tiring day.  It screams "lay on me" which translates into rest, peace, and tranquility to this busy mom! 

You can personalize these easily also.  Embroidered names, initials, holiday greetings are a few ideas you could do.  Also a crocheted trim, adding rick rack, ribbon, or buttons would make this an even more special treasure.  But for this tutorial we are going to focus solely on the actual pillow case and we will leave the embellishing for another post. 



Things you will need to make one standard size pillow case: 

A.  One 9"x 42" strip of fabric
B.  One 3"x 42" strip of fabric
C.  One 26" x 42" piece of fabric
D.  Coordinating thread


OK, the first thing you do is pre-wash and dry your fabric.  Then lightly iron it and you are ready to cut.  A standard pillow case is usually 21x32.  So we need to cut 3 pieces of fabric.  Two of these will be our band and the largest will be our body of the case.  OK, lets cut one 9" wide, one 3" wide, and one 26" wide.  All the pieces should be 42" in length and we will use a 5/8" seam throughout.

Next, lets take our 3" band piece and iron it in half.  Meaning fold in half length ways so that measures 1.5" ( Picture A). 

Next,  we are going to lay out our pieces.  Take your body piece right side facing up and lay the 1.5" band on top with the fold going down and the open seams together.  Next lay your 9" band right side together.  Basically we are making a sandwich with the folded 3" band in the middle.  (Picture B) 

Pin and sew.  Trim your seam and press the 9" band up and away from the body.  (Picture C)

Now, we are going to flip our work and press the other end of the 9" band in 5/8".   Fold the band in half matching our previously sewn stitch line to our pressed seam.  Press and pin in place. 

We are ready to sew.  Using a matching thread and sewing on the right side of the fabric, stitch a as close to the edge of the 2 joining fabrics as possible.  This gives it a very neat and tidy stitch line. (Pictured D,E,F)  Press.   

 Now place right sides together, matching the bands, and stitch outer and bottom seams of the case.  You could be done here, but I go ahead and serge the seams to give it a more finished look.  If you do not have a Serger, simply run a zig-zag stitch just on the outside of your seam and trim the excess, being careful not to cut your stitches!  Congratulations you just finished your new one of a kind pillow case!  SWEET DREAMS!! 

 (Picture A)

 (Picture B)

   (Picture C)

This picture has different fabric because I was making 2 cases when I was taking pictures for this project.

(Picture D)

(Picture E)

(Picture F) 

I added a crochet edging just for fun.  It's easy!  Simply add a blanket stitch and then a row of single crochet and then whatever edging stitches you choose.

Happy Crafting!  

Tinkerbell Room

Well, it got an itch to go ahead and start Hannah's Tinkerbell themed room.  SO I went and bought paint yesterday and I am proud to say that I am more than 3/4 of the way done with her room.  Of course I painted the walls first.  They were an ugly gray when we bought the house last year but now they are the perfect shade of Tinkerbell green.  I added wall stickers and crafted a bed canopy today.  I still need to get the bedding out, sew some curtains, and add some finishing touches but all in all I am really happy with my progress. 

I also made a little holder for her books out or wire hangers, but I haven't decided if I like that or not yet.  So we will see if it stays. 

The bed canopy was kinda a pain because I knew how I wanted it to look but I wasn't sure how I was going to get there.  In the end I am happy with it and so is she.  ( Which is the most important part!) 

I used the dome top of an old bird cage and I attached it to the wall with mirror hangers.  You know the little plastic ones that have a ridge to hold frame less mirrors? 

I tied purple tulle to the sides and back of the frame and them I took some satin and stitched out some leaves.  ( suppose to look like Tinkerbell;s dress bottom). 

mess

Let me just tell ya, this satin is some fraying stuff to work with and it LOVES to move.  I used straight pins and bobby pins to keep it in place.  I also used a satin stitch to form the leaves. 

So this is what I have done so far.  What do you think??  Does the bed look like a Tinkerbell bed or am I just bias?? 


By the way, I bought everything for this room except the paint online.  I love online shopping.  :D