Easy Pillowcase Tutorial-Sew Your Own Simple Pillowcase
Welcome to the Easy Pillowcase Tutorial! I started making pillow cases for my kids when they started sleeping in their ‘big’ beds. My boys have quite a collection of pillowcases. I gift my kids pillowcases on Christmas Eve-so they have a great nights sleep. You could make any kind of theme pillowcase, there are so many FUN choices of fabric! My husband even said he’d sleep on a ‘FUN’ pillowcase!
NFL Wide Cotton Broadcloth New England Patriots Patchwork Blue/RedTimeless Treasures Glow In The Dark Constellations Midnight
Timeless Treasures Vintage Sewing Red
Tossed Owls White/Gray/Pink
Sports Softball Yellow
Michael Miller Mid-Century Modern Atomic Turquoise
After awhile you will have quite a collection of pillowcases, this is a great way to keep memories of things they’ve liked throughout the years! Whether it be sports, cartoon characters, music or art. My boys love all their pillowcases! They even have used them for trick or treat bags! Having themed pillowcases even make sleepovers more fun for your guest.
Pillowcases are easy simple sewing projects! They make great gifts for friends or family members and are a simple project for beginners learning how to sew.
MATERIALS needed for the Easy Pillowcase Tutorial
- One yard of 44/45″ cotton or flannel fabric for average size pillow. (This is the perfect width for a standard size pillow) King size pillows will need a longer length of fabric.
- Thread to match fabric
- Basic Sewing Tools
Directions to Make an Easy Pillowcase
1) Prewash and dry fabric
2)Fold fabric lengthwise (salvage edges together), right sides together. I use my clear ruler and rotary blade to barely trim the width side edges to have a clean edge for pinning and stitching. Fabric tends to ravel a bit when getting washed and dried and I just like having clean edges 🙂
3)Pin one width side and one length side. Start stitching, using standard stitch length and 5/8″ seams. It doesn’t matter if you start sewing on the width side seam or the length side seam, just make sure you backstitch at the beginning and ending of your stitching. As your stitching gets close to the corner, slow down.
The corner is where the intersection of the width and length seams intersect- 5/8″ away from both edges.
At this point, you’ll want to STOP your machine with the needle DOWN IN THE FABRIC.
4)Lift the sewing machine foot and turn your fabric. This edge should still have 5/8″ seam allowance. If you find the seam is off you may turn the fabric back to where it was, put the foot down, and use the hand wheel to adjust by a stitch or two to get to the correct seam allowance. Make sure needle is in fabric and foot is lifted and turn fabric again.
5) Stitch this remaining side and backstitch at the end of the fabric and clip threads. (One width side remains open as this is where the pillow will get inserted into the pillowcase.)
6)Clip the stitched corner diagonally in the seam allowance, being careful not to cut through corner stitching.
7)Finish the stitched seams with either a zig zag stitch thru both layers of fabric, cutting with pinking shears OR using a rotary cutter with a pinking blade. If you choose the zig-zag method: I stitch the zig zag stitch right next to the straight stitching line and then trim the rest of the fabric. If you choose the pinking shears OR Rotary Cuter with Pinking Blade: I cut right down the middle of the seam allowance. (From my experience, the Rotary cutter with the pinking blade is a quicker than using pinking shears and is a great choice for this project!)
Olfa 45mm Rotary CutterOlfa 12×18 Rotary mat
Olfa Pinking Blade – 45mm Rotary Cutter
8)Press your seams to the side if you did the zig-zag stitching and press your seams open if you used the pinking shears.
Finishing the Pillowcase Band. (Opening of the pillowcase)
A)Finish raw edge of pillow opening by turning down 1/4″ of fabric to wrong side of fabric, pressing as you go OR use the pinking shears to cut of the raw edge of the pillowcase opening. Using the pinking shears will eliminate the need to fold down the 1/4″.
B)Fold this top edge down another 3 inches.( Matching seams, press and pin down fabric as you measure.)
C)Before stitching, set up your machine for circular/tube stitching. Some machines have a removable case and some machines have a part that drops down to allow for circular stitching. Refer to your manual for extra help.
D)With pillowcase still turned inside out, straight stitch close to the folded edge OR 1/4″ away from pinked edge, all the way around the pillow. Make sure to backstitch at the beginning and ending of your stitching.
E)Clip your threads and turn the pillowcase right side out. You are now finished!
You may add trim to the band area you just finished, if you so desire. (You may also add another row of stitching 1/4″ away from the stitching you just did. Make sure the second row of stitching is in the band area. Looking at the picture above, the second row of stitches will be to the right of the stitching you see. This adds a professional look to your pillowcases.)
FUN Fabric Choices for Boys **These are just a very few choices-Click on ANY picture to get more information OR do a detailed theme search of your own!
Construction ZoneMarvel Retro Comics CoversNickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
It’s A Boy Thing Monster Mash
Jurassic Jungle Dino Tracks
Sports Skateboard Black
Ocean Selfies Allover
Lost World Dinosaurs
Sports Collection Hockey Equipmen
FUN Fabric Choices for Girls.. ***These are just a very few choices–Click on any picture to get more information about the fabric OR do a detailed theme search of your own!
Butterflies Glitter PurpleDisney Doc McStuffins Here When You Need Me
Cozy Cotton Flannel Mini Dots
Sports Soccer Girl
Disney Princess
Hello Kitty Teacup Toss
Garden Girl Floral
Metallic Fairy Trail Clouds & Hearts
Colored Dots
Check out these FUN and Warm Flannel Choices!
Last but NOT least; my favorite cotton fabric BATIKS!
Before you go- Checkout other Fun Sewing Projects for your home:
Learn How to Make a Casserole Carrier
Learn How to Make Quilted Potholders
Super Simple Squares Quilt Tutorial
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Thanks for Reading and Happy Sewing!
If you have any questions about this Easy Pillowcase Tutorial, please leave a comment here or on my FB page.
Amy
You give very easy to understand instructions for this project. The fabric suggestions are adorable!
Thanks Angela! This is one project you really can go crazy and personalize, I LOVE all the different fabric choices! I’ll never buy pillowcases from a store again. I appreciate your comment and Happy Sewing to you!
My “regular” job is making men’s shirts, which I do from home, but I make my own pillowcases, too! It’s surprising how much fabric they take up when they look so small.
Making men’s shirts is quite a job for sure, that is a great job to have! Some men will only wear custom tailored shirts! If we had a money growing tree, I know my husband would LOVE to have custom tailored shirts. One time I took apart one of my husband’s standard button down cotton shirt and made a pattern from it. I was thinking I’d make his shirts and save some money. The shirt turned out great and he wore it but that is the only ONE I made, and had no desire to make any more.