Sew What?: Make Your Own Pillow Covers

easy throw pillow covers tutorial

what you need:

fabric & thread

scissors

pins

sewing machine

pick your fabric

the fabric I picked was slightly sheer, so I also picked a liner fabric to go inside for extra thickness

warning: if you go to a fabric outlet, you WILL get overwhelmed with all the choices!

measure the pillows you'd like to cover, length and width

make sure to get the curve of the pillow (how fat it is)

tip: if you don't have a soft tape measure, you can use a shoelace (or iPhone charger) to measure
the length and then line it up with a ruler/yardstick to see how long it is

measure and cut your fabric: 3 pieces total

1 for the front, 2 for the back

the front piece should be 2 inches longer than the size of your pillow, both length and width

ex) if your pillow is 18"x18" your fabric should be 20"x20"

the back 2 pieces should have the same width as the front piece

the length of the back pieces should be half the length plus 3"

ex) if your pillow is 18"x18" your 2 pieces should each be 20"x12"

take the 2 back pieces and fold over a half an inch piece (approximately) on one of the 20"sides

iron it down so it stays put

sew a small hem along that edge

lay out your 3 pieces:

the front (large) piece should go down first, pretty side up

lay down your 2 back pieces, pretty side down, on top of it so the unhemmed edges
are lined up with the sides of the front piece, hemmed sides on the inside

these two pieces will overlap

fold over the two hemmed edges about 2 inches (they should still overlap about 1/2" to 1")
and iron them down so they stay put

pin all three pieces together so they don't move while you're sewing

now sew a hem (about 1/2" to 5/8") around all edges, making sure the middle pieces still overlap

after you've sewn all edges, turn it inside out and your pillow cover is complete!

stick your pillow inside for an easy to use pillow cover

the pillows in action!