Fold Over Pillow Case Tutorial

Once and a while I love to make a pillowcase or two, this time we needed to replace a very torn and well loved pillowcase we had for our big 23" square pillow, the size is a standard Euro Sham size except I can never find any Euro shams I like...I know i'm very picky and I'm pretty sure I could find one in a Flea Market anywhere in Europe...alas I have no plans for that any time soon...  

so I decided to make my own! A few months ago I found lovely fabrics at Cottonholic on Etsy, they took a little while to arrive but they are perfect! the fabrics are a cotton-linen blend, I washed them in the washing machine and dried them in the dryer for extra softens and just to make sure they won't shrink in the wash after I cut and sew them.

So here are the instructions on how to make a fold over pillowcase

You will need:

A Sewing Machine

Fabric

Cutting Matt

Craft Ruler

Rotary Cutter

Scissors

Tape measure

Measure you pillow with a tape measure or on your cutting matt by holding it down firmly, mine was a 23" square.

Next, Lay your fabric on a table or large surface, place your pillow on the fabric and fold the fabric over and above the pillow creating a 7-8" over lap

Mark the fabric so you know how long you need to cut it, mine measured 56" long 

Leave a 2" margin on the top and bottom of the pillow's height ( my pillow was 23" so I needed the fabric to be 27" wide by 56" long)

cut the fabric with scissors or your rotary cutter on you cutting matt, I prefer to cut long pieces of fabric with scissors making sure I measure and pin the top and bottom and iron seam so I cut a straight line.

Fold over the short edge of the fabric (the part that measures 27" in my case) and iron it down

Then fold it over again and iron it down again creating a 1" bi fold on both edges of the fabric, this will be the first thing you will sew.

I like to sew two seams down the 1" bi fold, it gives it a nice professional look

Once both short sides of the fabric are sewn it's time to measure again, lay the back of your fabric down over the cutting matt or a table and fold the short sewn sides one over the other making sure that:

1. Once the fabric is folded one sewn seam over the other it should measure the length of your pillow from side to side, mine needed to measure 23"  (the length of my pillow).

2.  There should be at least 5"-7" between the two sewn seamed folds, you can see the bottom seam on top in the photo, the top seam is underneath,  when you finish sewing the pillow and  turn the fabric over you will see what I mean and you will get the hang of it...

 Pin down both sewn seams the one you can see and the one you can't but you will be able to feel it under the fabric, this will make sure the fabric does not move when you saw the top and bottom sides.

Now you are ready to sew the top and bottom of the pillow, after I finish sewing my seam I like to zigzag the ends for a clean look

Voila! remove the pins, cut off all loose threads and you are ready to turn you pillow right side out!

This was so much fun! and addictive! I immediately made another one! 

Just in case you were thinking of asking: Yes, I make most of the pillows in our home some are Fold overs, some have zippers, the fabrics for the orange and blue pillows are vintage, the two back pillow cases are Laura Ashley purchased at TJ Maxx last year, the bedspread is a few years old from Urban Outfitters.

xox