Tutorial Tuesday - Pillowcases!

One of my bloggy, quilty friends posted about making pillowcases for her kiddos for Christmas. Duh! Why didn't I think of that! Once the Boxing Day sales were on, I went out and snapped up some fun Christmas prints for just that purpose. While doing so, Q-A asked if I'd share my measurements and a tutorial was born!

Caveat: These are very simple pillow cases. I don't make French seams. I don't know how - no matter how many times I've seen Q-D do it - and don't see the need to do all that work for a fun little pillow case to be used for a short season. That said, if you want to make it more complicated - French seams, piping, rick-track trim, fireworks - have at 'er! Okay, maybe the fireworks aren't such a great plan...

First up, dive into that stash or head to your LQS. If you buy a metre of two fabrics, you'll have enough for two pillowcases. Not identical, but match-y.  I went with Riley Blake's Santa's Workshop. I like the feel of a crisp quilting cotton, but they'd work in flannel or minkie or whatever. 

I cut a 9 inch strip WOF of the blue elf-y print for the cuff and a 27 inch WOF piece of the stripe for the body of the pillow. 

Trim those pesky selvages. Just kidding - we all know I love selvages. I trim them so I can save 'em for future projects. (If you don't, please leave me a comment so we can make arrangements for me to get yours. You think I'm kidding, don't you?) If you're really feeling lazy (or efficient), you can leave them on. Just be sure to adjust your seam allowance so they don't show on your finished pillowcase. The bonus of leaving them is that you won't have to finish your seams!

 Press the 9 inch strip in half lengthwise.

Using a ½ inch seam (I know, I know, that's not what the blog title says!), sew the raw edge of the cuff on to the pillowcase body.

Depending on your fabric, the pieces might not line up in the end, just trim 'em to match. It's a pillowcase, not a parachute. Things don't need to be exact here!

 Press the seam open.

Top-stitch on both sides of the seam. It adds a little bit of fun to your pillowcase and finishes the seam. I use a straight stitch in contrasting thread colour, but it would be a nice place to break out a decorative stitch... if you like that sort of thing! ☺

You now have one large pieced rectangle. Fold it in half, matching the cuff/body seams, to make your pillowcase. Pin it along the bottom and side of the case, if desired. I know Q-D will!

Once you've sewn the bottom and side using a ½ inch seam, go back and zigzag beside your seam to finish it. Or use the seam finishing technique of your choice. Or decide it doesn't really matter to you. It's your call here!

 And ta da! A finished pillowcase! I like to give mine a little press to make the seams crisp!

I will be the first to admit that I might have gone a little overboard! But on the up side, they're all ready for next year's gifting!And the fabric was 30% off.... practically free!

 Himself even asked if we get some for our bed... who says they're just for kiddos!

Maybe you'll be snuggling up to a fresh new pillowcase for the holidays in 2014!

J