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How to Make a Pillow Case in 5 Easy Steps

How to Make a Pillow Case in 5 Easy Steps

 

 

 


So, how to make a pillow case in 5 easy steps.  We go through a lot of pillow cases in my house so I decided to make them myself with fabrics from my stash. You can follow the step by step tutorial and watch the above video to learn how to make this simple project.  

It is a great way to use up your stash or to buy really fun and colorful fabrics from JOANN Fabric & Craft Stores, Fabric.com or Hobby Lobby.  With the wide range of fabrics that these sites offer, you can find the perfect fabric for your DIY pillowcase or give them as gifts.

I used standard cotton fabrics for my project.  The cotton is colorful, light weight and the perfect width for these pillow cases.  This fabric is also durable and washable. This project takes about 15 minutes to complete and only requires beginner sewing skills.

I have made many of these pillowcases and they are really easy to sew.  This method of making pillowcases is known as the burrito method.  It allows you to enclose the accent fabric and the cuff so that there are no raw edges showing and you have a nice clean finish to your DIY pillowcases.

I hope you all give these DIY pillow cases a try. This post contains affiliate links that if you click on them and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.

What you will Need:

  • 3/4 yd of main fabric
  • 1/4 yd of cuff fabric
  • 2″ wide piece of accent fabric.
  • Standard sewing supplies

What you will need: Pillow Cases

Step 1: How to Make a Pillow Case in 5 Easy Steps

Cut your fabrics as follows:

  • 27″ long x width of fabric (WOF) of main fabric
  • 9″ long x WOF of cuff fabric
  • 2″wide x WOF of accent fabric

Cut off all the selveges so that all three fabrics are exactly the same width.  The fabrics that I used were 44″-45″ wide so they made the perfect width for these pillowcases.  Just make sure that when you cut the selveges that each of the three fabrics are the same width.  If you are unfamiliar with what the selvege is, it is the finished edge of the fabric that is placed by the loom when it is woven so that the fabric does not unravel.  The selvege measures between 1/2″ and 3/4″ wide on average.

Step 2: How to Make a Pillow Case in 5 Easy Steps

Press the cuff fabric and the accent fabric in half lengthwise wrong sides together. Open the cuff fabric and lay it right sides up on your cutting table.  Lay the main fabric rides side up on top of the cuff fabric and lining up the raw edges.  Then lay the folded accent fabric on top of the other two layers again lining up all of the raw edges.  Pin the layers together.

I have just discovered the freedom of the cordless iron.  I honestly don’t know how I lived without one. It provides so much freedom when pressing.  I got my Panasonic Cordless iron on sale with free shipping at my affiliate Sewing Machines Plus.  If you are in the market for a cordless iron I wholeheartedly recommend that you click the link and buy one at Sewing Machines Plus. I absolutely love mine.

How to Make a Pillow Case in 5 easy steps
Layer the fabrics

Step 3: How to Make a Pillow Case in 5 Easy Steps

Roll up the main fabric like a burrito and place it into the fold of the cuff fabric.  Fold the cuff fabric over the rolled up outer fabric and line it up with the raw edges on the other side. You will have the main fabric inside of the cuff fabric Pin then sew using a 1/4″ seam allowance along the length of the fabrics through all layers making sure not to catch the rolled up fabrics. You will now have a tube of fabrics.

How to make a pillow case in 6 easy steps
Roll Up the Fabrics

Step 4: How to Make a Pillow Case in 5 Easy Steps

Reach in and pull out the outer fabric from the tube.  You will notice that the cuff and the accent fabric seams are completely enclosed for a nice clean finish.

How to make a pillow case in 6 easy steps
Turn the case

Step 5: How to Make a Pillow Case in 5 Easy Steps

With right sides together sew the side and the bottom and you have completed your pillow case in 15 minutes and 5 steps.  If you want you can serge or zigzag the seams to prevent fraying or use a French seam. I honestly just left mine and they are fine.  But, if you want to try a simple French seam check out the video.  It walks you step by step on how to create the perfect French seam so that your seams are finished both inside and out.   Turn the pillowcase right sides out.

How to make a pillow case in 6 easy steps
Sew right sides together

You have now completed the perfect colorful and fun pillowcase.  Making a pillowcase is easy and fast so make as many as you want to brighten up your bedroom decor.  They can be made in a snap and they will use up a lot of your stash.  Good luck with this project and have fun doing it.

How to make a pillow case in 6 easy steps
Finished Pillow Case

If you are interested in an envelope style pillow cover check out my tutorial on how to make an envelope pillow.  How about a pillow case with a scalloped edge? Check out my How to Make a Scalloped Edged Pillow Case pattern and tutorial.

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25 Comments

  1. Your picture and your words aren’t matching up. The text is correct but your picture shows the pillow fabric wrong side up. It’s should be wrong side down when stacking the three pieces together.
    After ripping the seam out and re-stacking the layers it worked great. Thanks for fun project on a rainy day.
    Stephanie

    1. I hope this helps.

      KING SIZE PILLOW CASE
      MATERIALS
      1-1/4 yard main fabric
      1/4 yard contrast fabric for cuff
      1/4 yard contrast fabric for trim
      CUT FABRIC
      Cut 1 main fabric 41″Wx41″H
      Cut 1 contrast cuff fabric 41″Wx9″H
      Cut 1 contrast trim fabric 41″Wx2″H

      QUEEN SIZE PILLOW CASE
      MATERIALS
      3/4 yard main fabric
      1/4 yard contrast fabric for cuff
      1/4 yard contrast fabric for trim
      CUT FABRIC
      Cut 1 main fabric 41″Wx27″H
      Cut 1 contrast cuff fabric 41″Wx9″H
      Cut 1 trim fabric 41″Wx2″H

  2. I did like but was confused about the French seam. With first seamdo you have wrong sides together and for French seams right side out for second seam & this one is half inch seam

  3. Thankyou so much for the easy to follow video. I am hooked!! Would love to show you the end results but dont know how to post
    Picture. Came out perfect

  4. Major mistake in step 2. Main fabric should be placed face UP on the face up cuff. All 3 of the fabrics lay face up before rolling the burrito. It is very counterintuitive!

  5. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I completely screwed this up. I guess I need a blog with more defined pictures.

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  7. Hi, thanks for your tutorial! A friend shared it with me after I recently learned about making pillowcases for children in foster care. Looking forward to getting started! You mentioned loving your cordless iron so I clicked on the link and it took me to the website but not to the iron. I searched and there were three different styles of Panasonic cordless irons. Do you mind sharing which exact one you have? Thanks!

Looking Forward to Reading your Thoughts on this Project

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