Easiest Pillow Cover You'll Ever Sew - A Tutorial

Just recently, a friend asked me to remake drapery panels into a valance for her bay window, and if there was enough fabric leftover from the panels, she also wanted some pillows. She wasn't looking for anything fancy, and she certainly wasn't looking to pay the price that the custom drapery maker was going to charge her for each pillow! As it turned out, I had just enough fabric leftover after making four valance panels to also make four 16 inch pillows, and today I'm going to show you how to sew the easiest pillow covers ever! I'm serious - the absolute easiest! All you have to sew is four straight lines! Keep reading and you'll see...

I made 16 inch pillows, but this method will work for any size pillow form you want to cover. So here's the formula:

Pillow width + 1 inch = fabric width
Pillow length + pillow length + 8 inches = fabric length

So for these 16 inch pillows I needed my fabric panels to be 16 + 1 inches wide, so 17 inches wide, and 16 + 16 + 8 inches long, so 40 inches long.

I used one solid piece of fabric leftover from drapery panels for each pillow, but you could use a piece of an old curtain, tablecloth, or even strips or pieces of old jeans or other sturdy clothing sewn together, or leftover pieces of upholstery from having a chair or couch reupholstered. Be sure to ask for the leftovers since you paid for them anyway!

First, press your fabric panel and turn over each short end 1 inch, then 1 inch again and press the folds. Top stitch close to the first fold through all 3 layers of fabric on each end of the panel.

This is what the short edge will look like after stitching along the first fold.

Lay fabric right side up and mark the center of one long edge. Place a ruler next to the edge with the 8 inch mark (or half the pillow length) of the ruler at the center mark on the fabric.

Bring short end from left towards center so fold is on the 16 inch (or pillow length) mark on the ruler.

Then bring short end from the right towards center so fold is on the zero mark on the ruler.

The two hemmed short edges will overlap each other by about 2 inches in the center.

Pin the raw edges. Stitch a 1/2 inch seam along both sides. Do not stitch folded edges.

Turn pillow cover right side out, using a crochet hook or other object to poke out the corners. Slide pillow form inside one half of the cover.

Then bring other half of pillow cover over the rest of the pillow form, smoothing out the form and the cover and making sure the corners of the form are in the corners of the cover.

And there you have the absolute easiest pillow cover you will ever sew! One piece of fabric, one pillow form, a little measuring and pinning, four straight lines on the sewing machine, and you're done!

Now that your sewing confidence has been boosted just a bit, head on over to my Good Eggs Giveaway and put your name in the Easter Basket for a chance to win my Petite Point Flowers Spring Table Runner, or the pattern and charms to make your own! The giveaway ends Sunday evening so get hopping or you'll miss it!

Happy Stitching!

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