hi everyone!
so i have been really busy in general, getting ready for school, going to school, getting ready for formal recruitment (wooh delta zeta!) and just a bunch of other things. hopefully i will find a good habit of posting, everything is starting to free up now.
i spent a lot of my summer making a lot of things for my apartment, a friend's wedding, my brother's dorm, and just miscellaneous things. but probably the easiest thing i made is what i'm about to show you! these envelope pillows look super nice and are a great project for someone that is still getting familiar with sewing. (which to be honest, is me for the most part!)
i am far from a professional sewer and am pretty much self taught, so there are definitely a lot of different ways to do what i am about to show you.
what you'll need:
pillow inserts
i used 18" pillows from amazon...
here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017L0I58A/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1.
they aren't the best quality, but they are cheap! and you can always switch it out for better ones later.
fabric
how much? just do a little math: take the size of your pillow and add a hem. I'm a lazy sewer so usually i go with 2" so i have an inch hem for each side. this is all you need to know. !!unless!! check the width of your fabric (usually on the top of the bolt, remember it is folded in half). if the width is shorter than double the size of your pillow plus 3"-5" (so about 40" for an 18" pillow), you will need two separate cuts of fabric. if not, stop reading so you don't confuse yourself! we will be folding the fabric to cover both sides of the fabric. this won't work for you, so just get two cuts of fabric (well one bigger piece that you will eventually cut yourself). they should be the width of your pillow plus hem in one direction and then the height of your pillow plus that 3"-5" in the other direction.
sewing machine and thread to match
let's get started!
step one:
trim out your fabric lengthwise so it is the double the size of your pillow plus 3"-5". So 18 inch pillow is about 40". the width should be pillow length + hem. don't worry, it will make sense soon.
then flip it over so the pretty part is facing the tabletop. from there, take the short end of your fabric (size + hem) and make a pretty edge. this is the edge that will be tucked in, so make it about a inch thick. I just folded an inch over, sewed it, then folded it over again and sewed it again.
step two:
ok so now you have a long piece of fabric with a bottom edge sewn. now, you're gonna do the exact same thing on the other side! but this will be seen on the outside of the pillow. it is where you are going to tuck the other piece into. if you allowed yourself an extra 3", you should only make this about an inch thick, like the last one. but if you allowed yourself 4" or 5," you could probably do 1.5"-2". you will still need a little extra to tuck in, so don't use all of your extra!
step three:
take you pillow and lay it with the pattern side facing you. then take your two sewn edges and meet them in the middle of the fabric. the one you intend to be the outer flap (probably the thicker fold) fold down first. with the intended tucked-in flap (smaller one), lay it on top, overlapping the thicker fold by about an inch (or more depending on how much extra fabric you gave yourself). Measure out the length of the pillow, ensuring it is the same length as your pillow (18 inch pillow = 18 inch in length). this will be a good way to know how far to overlap your folds.
step four:
time to sew! pin down everything (or don't, i am a lazy sewer and hate pinning so i kinda just wing it, that's cool too). you can either sew both flaps at the same time, right on top of each other, or unfold the top flap and sew the outside part first (that's what i did as shown in the picture). from there, you'll just fold the second part over and sew the same way, giving it a little overlap. doing them separately just adds an extra stitch for stability. also, i like triple-backed the top edges for extra stability.
make sure you allow yourself a seam width. the width of your fabric after you sew it should be the same as the width of your pillow, from seam to shining seam.
step five:
you're done! untuck those babies and go stuff a pillow in them! now you have cute, easily removable pillow covers!
super easy project for my apartment!
