February 3, 2017 – SewingMachinesPlus.com Blog

While conceptually the idea of sewing a square pillow case sounds easy, there are several things to consider when you undertake this task.

Go smaller

The cardinal rule of making your own pillow cases is to make them approximately an inch smaller than the pillow form you want them to cover. If you have a 22” x 22” pillow, you need to make the case 21” x 21”. Of course, don’t forget your seam allowances. If you use ¼” seam allowances, than you would cut a piece of fabric that is 21.5” x 21.5”.

The cardinal rule of making your own pillow cases is to make them approximately an inch smaller than the pillow form you want them to cover.

Fussy cut

I normally wouldn’t advocate for drawing your lines on the front of your fabric, but this fabric by Hawthorne Threads needs to be cut to the size of the panel you want for your pillow case. When fussy cutting, sometimes drawing on the front of the fabric is necessary to ensure correct sizing. Haven’t heard of the term ‘to fussy cut?” It means to carefully cut out a piece of fabric for a specific purpose.

It means to carefully cut out a piece of fabric for a specific purpose.

See the center pieces of these quilt blocks by Amy Gibson of The Cookbook Quilt Along? These are prime example of taking the time to fussy cut your fabric.

These are prime example of taking the time to fussy cut your fabric.

Choose your pillow back

Once you’ve cut your front panel, you’ll need to cut your back. You can finish pillows many ways. Check out my post from last fall on different options for pillows. I chose to do an envelope close, so I made cut two panels the same height as my pillow, but each was 13.5” wide. That allows for a folded, sewn hem on each of the ‘opening’ portions of the back panel.

That allows for a folded, sewn hem on each of the ‘opening’ portions of the back panel.

Consider interfacing

For added pop, I fuse lightweight interfacing to the front panel fabric. It has such a gorgeous design that I want it to stay crisp and firm while it sits on my bed looking fabulous.

Curve your corners

This step is so important!! I have a small piece of cardstock that I’ve cut to help me round the corners of my square. Why would I do this, you ask? Because pillows are 2-3. They are big and fluffy and when you attempt to sew straight sides of a square you often end up with starfish points instead of nice, square corners.

I have a small piece of cardstock that I’ve cut to help me round the corners of my square.

This is an example of a pillow cover that didn’t have rounded corners before it was sewn. Trust me on this, it makes all the difference!

This is an example of a pillow cover that didn’t have rounded corners before it was sewn.

To pipe or not to pipe?

That is indeed the question. I love the contrast that piping gives pillows. If your machine has a piping foot, now is the time to install it.

If you are new to this step, consider pinning the piping in place. This is not my first rodeo, so I just sew and go.

Consider pinning the piping in place.

Make sure your piping follows those slightly rounded corners. Don’t forget to snip the piping edge just up to the seam so that if folds nicely around each corner.

Don’t forget to snip the piping edge just up to the seam so that if folds nicely around each corner.

Now place your two backing pieces on top of the front panel, right sides together. Pin, and sew.

Now place your two backing pieces on top of the front panel, right sides together.

Not so fast

Once you’re done, YOU ARE NOT ACTUALLY DONE. No. Unpin everything and flip the cover right sides out. Carefully inspect all along the seams and make sure no thread is showing from the piping like you see here. If you find anything that needs to be tightened up, flip the pillowcase inside out again and resew the hem, making sure to sew just to the edge of the piping for a nice clean finish.

Carefully inspect all along the seams and make sure no thread is showing from the piping like you see here.

Flip the pillow right sides out and again carefully inspect it. If all looks good, turn it inside out AGAIN and then then trim the edges, especially around the corners so that the corners will fully turn out when you flip the pillow cover to the front again.

If all looks good, turn it inside out AGAIN and then then trim the edges.

Finishing touches

Once you’ve turned your pillow case right sides out, run your fingers along the inside of the seams and fully push out the piping and corners, then iron to get out any wrinkles from the sewing process. Slip it onto your pillow form and voilà, you’ll have a wonderfully plush and SQUARE pillow case.

See the difference rounding those corners made?

Do you have any secrets for making the perfect pillowcase? If so, share them in comments!

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Charlotte Kaufman is a writer and sewist in Mammoth Lakes, California. She specializes in marine and home interiors and continues to fall more and more in love with quilting. You can follow her at charlottekaufman.com.

One of the most important things you can do when beginning a quilt is to plan out your pattern. By this idea, I don’t just mean picking what pattern you want to buy in a store, but also planning out how the pieces of your project will fit together. That kind of pre-thought can make a difference in the appearance of a final product!

Let’s say, for instance, you decided to make a blue-based quilt, and you have a number of types of fabric to use for the product. If you don’t plan out how the pieces will go, you could end up running out of one particular style before the end, so the final portion is suddenly void of that one fabric. If you, like me, want a quilt that looks more balanced than that, then planning ahead can give you that quality.

Let’s think about where this is going…

Beyond that point, making these decisions beforehand can also ensure that you don’t pile a series of similar fabric all in one area. Otherwise, your product could look like this not-so-beautiful piece of artwork I created with my not-so-wonderful skills at Paint.

Otherwise, your product could look like this not-so-beautiful piece of artwork I created with my not-so-wonderful skills at Paint.

See how the same shades of blue are really close together? Now, imagine, what it would look like had I just mixed the fabrics in a more thorough way. The overall result could’ve been much more balanced, which to me, is a better strategy! And that’s the beauty of planning: No matter what your preference is, you can make sure you end up with a quilt that reflects it!

Lay out your quilt pieces on the floor & continue to adjust them until you come to a pattern you decide is right.

Options

So the question arises about how to plan out those details. There are a couple of options available that you can use right in your own home! The easiest and least-costly method between the two I’ll cover is to lay out your quilt pieces on the floor and continue to adjust them until you come to a pattern you decide is right. You don’t need any extra materials for this stage at all, and so long as you have the free floor space, you have this opportunity right at your fingertips!

A quilt design area on your wall.

The other option is a quilt design area on your wall. This one might cost you a bit of money since you have to buy the supplies for it (though those supplies can be as simple as clips!), and you might find that you have to rearrange your wall décor to make room for it. Still, it’s a better candidate than the floor method if you want to eliminate the possibility of having your quilt-in-progress trampled by feet or if you just don’t have the right amount of space available for a clear plan-out area. Once you construct the design wall, you can start pinning and planning, shifting around your fabric blocks until everything fits in a way you’re comfortable with!

Start pinning & planning, shifting around your fabric blocks until everything fits in a way you’re comfortable with!

From that point, there are a number of ways to remember the quilt structure that you’ve planned out. Sure, if you’re using a quilt design wall, you could take it a bit at a time over to your sewing machine and just leave the extra pieces in place on the wall until the time comes to use them. But if you want a method that doesn’t involve leaving your pieces there — or if you’re using the floor method — you might want to think about alternative tactics!

One idea is to take a picture of what you come up with. If you do that, you can use it as a point of reference as you go through piecing your quilt together. By following the design you created, your quilt can turn out just as beautiful as you meant for it to!

Collate your blocks

Another option would be to keep your pieces in the order that you’re going to use them. As you take them up from the floor or off the wall, make sure you’re doing so in the exact order they’ll appear. You could start from the top or the bottom corner and progressively layer your quilt pieces on top of one another as you go. With this strategy, your blocks are in the order you wanted them, so you can just go through your stack one piece at a time to recreate your pattern!

But whatever your planning and preserving methods are, the important thing is to be thorough with them. Take your time, both in pinning or sorting those pieces, and in keeping them in sequence, so that errors are less likely to happen. When you have a well-balanced and well-considered quilt as the reward for your efforts, you’ll be glad you did!

Day / February 3, 2017

How to Sew a Square Pillow with Piping