pillow instructions

making a cover for a pillow is quite easy. i made a set of lovely pillows for a friend yesterday, for her surprise housewarming party. as luck would have it they matched the living room perfectly! the pattern is a little springy, but that burst of spring will be welcome come february when everyone is sick of the cold, dark winter.

so here are the instructions. this is my first attempt at giving sewing instructions, so hopefully it makes sense at least a little bit.

materials you will need:
-pillow cushion
-fabric (mine is from a vintage sheet set) [don't worry jenn, it's been washed ;-)]
-ruler
-fabric pencil
-pins
-sewing machine or needle and thread

instructions:
1) cut the fabric so that it wraps around the pillow with about a 6" overlap. trim the sides so that you have about 2" extra on each side. for example, if your pillow is 12" x 12", the fabric will be approximately 30" x 16"
2) iron fabric. in order to sew both short ends, fold over about 1/2 " and iron, then fold over again 1/2" and iron.
3) sew short ends with 1/4" seam allowance
4) place fabric on surface good side up and place pillow on top. center pillow between the short sides and fold up the long end that you want to show on the outside. then fold down the top.
5) with a pin, secure one side together, making sure you have all 3 layers and it fits snugly. then secure the other side in the same fashion.

6) take out pillow insert
7) lay fabric and adjust, if needed, to ensure no puckering of fabric, it should lay flat. where pin is make a line with the fabric pencil from top to bottom, going through the center of the pin. repeat on other side.
(this picture should be rotated 90 degrees clockwise, i don't know why it's not coming up that way!)
8) use sewing machine or hand sew along lines that were just made.
9) turn right side out and insert pillow.