DIY pillow cover
We all have a few old pillows laying around the house that could use a little makeover and add a pop of color to a room... In my case, it had to be on a budget.
If you're anything like me, you find yourself walking through TJ MAXX or Ross shopping and suddenly you pass the pillow aisle and you see one or two that would look so cute on your bed or in your living room on the couch. I always find one I love, and day dream in the middle of the aisle as to where it would be and how it would look at home... then I check the price tag and I see $20.00 for ONE STINKIN' PILLOW! That's not gonna fly on my budget, SO... I came up with a different solution.
Dare I say it? LEARN TO SEW YOUR OWN COVER. :)
I am getting pretty comfy on my sewing machine just stitching little things together like rice bags, very simple curtains, pillows, or mending things here and there. By no means am I a professional. I figured there were probably enough tutorials on you tube or pinterest that I could learn how to do a quick pillow cover, but once I started playing around with it, I figured out a really simple cover that took no time (and best of all no professional measuring) at all.
I love being able to start and finish a project in an hour or two because I have small children and it is almost impossible to do!
I found some clearance fabric at Hancock Fabric that matched perfect in my kiddos room. I paid 9$ for two yards of the pattern cover, and less than 2$ for the gray backing.
I did not keep track of the measurements of fabric that I used because I literally eyeballed this project and did not use a measuring tape at all.
First off, I held up the gray fabric on the brown pillow that I wanted to cover, and made a square just bigger than what would cover. I then cut the piece in half, and folded one side down to hem. If you look at the pic you can see I was so lazy I didn't even cut straight lines. These wont be seen so I didn't bother spending the time making them perfect.
Next I stitched a hem. It was probably about 1/2 inch but it doesn't matter as long as it keeps the edge down.
After hemming the edge, I lined it back up on the fabric about half way down the back side. Your going to have 3 pieces of fabric total. The front cover, and the two halves in the back (that make the envelope)...
Next, I started sewing around the edges of the pillow to close it all up. Make sure you remember to sew inside out.
I wanted to put the old pillow in to make sure I sewed it tight enough... you definitely want it tight or it will look homemade and sloppy. See all of that uneven extra fabric on the right side? ITS ALL GOOD. Just trim that off and when you turn it inside out, you wont even know it was there :)
Now take your second half of the back part, and the trick I found here was to overlap the first half by about 2 inches or more. This way when you are done and put the pillow in, it will cover seam to seam instead of your old pillow trying to bulge out of the opening.
Making sure it is inside out, stitch around all of the edges making sure to overlap the second half backing over the first.
Once you have sewn around all of the edges, turn that baby right-side out and shove your old pillow in. As you can see, my corners are a little baggy because I wasn't super picky about getting exact measurements, but I am totally fine with it.
You need some extra fabric to grab when your having a major pillow fight anyway... right?
If you get your pillow in and are able to pull the envelope shut, then good job because you sewed your second backing high enough over the first that the pillow wont bulge and show. The more you get comfortable with this cover, the easier and more accurate your next ones will be.
If you are super impatient and ADD when it comes to reading patterns like me, don't let that be the thing that stops you from trying! It can be done another way! They key is to experiment and not give up!
JUST KEEP SWIMMING JUST KEEP SWIMMING
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