New Pillows - New Look

There are times we all get sick of looking at the same old pillows on our sofa.  We need a pick-me-up for our home.  Sometimes, change is good.  As for me, I was tired of looking at the pillows I had purchased 5 years ago at Homegoods, not to mention, they were not comfortable.  I find that many of the decorative pillows I have purchased in the past are hard and uncomfortable.  Which brings me to this post.  I found some nice fabric that goes well on my sofa and in our family room and decided to make some easy envelope pillow covers for the pillow forms I purchased at JoAnn Fabrics.  They were on sale too!  So all the better!

 

Begin with a Poly-fil Premiere Pillow insert.  You can purchase them at JoAnn's Fabrics or any fabric store I would think.  I like this brand because they are soft and keep their shape.  I purchased 2 - 22" and 2 - 18" pillow inserts.

 

I had just finished making these 22" pillows when I thought "I should do a post on how easy these are to make.  So, I took pictures of the process of the 2 - 18" pillows I made to follow.

 

It is probably a good idea to choose a fabric that is washable and heavy/durable.

 

For 2 - 18" pillows, I purchased 1 yard of 45" fabric.  My pillow form is 18" square, so I want to cut out 2 - 19" squares.  These 19" squares are for the front of each pillow - or one side.  For the back of the pillow, I want to cut out 2 - 14" x 19" rectangles and 2 - 13" x 19" rectangles. These 4 rectangles will make up the back of the two pillows, making it easy to get the pillow form in and out of the cover so you can wash and press the cover as needed.

 

Set the two 19" square fabric pillow fronts aside for now.

 

On the 19" side (long side) of each of the four rectangular fabric pieces, press 1/4", then press over another 1/4" - pin if you like.  After you press the long side of only ONE side of each rectangle, stitch that hem as shown in the image above.

 

With right sides together, pin the 1 large and 1 small rectangle to one of the 19" square rectangles.  The two rectangles will form a pocket in which to place your pillow form.  Make sure that the raw edges are around the perimeter of the 19" square.  You want the edges that you pressed and stitched to be in the middle - check the image above.

 

Stitch 1/2" seam allowance around the entire 19" square.

 

After stitching around the entire 19" square pillow case, you will want to do a zig-zag stitch just inside the seam allowance.  You can also serge the raw edge of the seam allowance.  What this does is prevents the seam from fraying and coming apart over time and with washings.  I have a new serger, but I haven't learned to use it yet.  Ugh.  Intimidating - at least at the moment.

 

Clip your corners making sure you do not clip the stitched corner.  This makes the corners look cleaner and sharper when you turn the pillow case right side out.

 

Turn your pillow cover right side out and use your finger to push out the point of the corners

 

Looking good so far!

 

Press your pillow cover, especially the edges where the seam is located.  Use your finger to "roll" the seam out as far as you can to the edge while pressing.

 

Place your pillow form inside the beautiful pillow cover you just made!

 

And there you go!  A beautiful new pillow for your sofa, or chair, or bedroom decor.

 

I think it looks pretty great!

 

These 4 pillows brightened up my family room sofa and I made all four in a matter of a few hours.  See how easy that was?!!  I'm going to make some pillow covers from my Big Bears old dress shirts, using the side with the buttons as the envelope side.  I saw that trick on Martha Stewart a couple years ago. 

I hope you enjoyed this pillow tutorial!