Pillow Cover – Instructions

Pillow Cover – Instructions

1.       Materials requirements

• Purchase pillow (or stuff, if you choose)
• Fabric to fit your pillow
•  Feet for your machine: 

o   Serger – cording foot if your cording is not too large.  Serging will make the nicest finished edge inside.

o   If you do not have a serger, or if the cording is too large for your serger foot, use the zipper foot on your sewing machine. 

Note:  If the cording is too big for the serger, you can serge the raw edges after the pillow cover is assembled.  If you do not have a serger, you can use a zig-zag or use another good “holding” stitch down the raw edge after you have the pillow cover assembled.  If you do this extra step, you should not have to worry about repairing the seam of your pillow.

2.            Cover basics

·         Measure your pillow.  Depending on the thickness of the pillow cover fabric, you may need to add a little bit to the side for your cover, but the finished cover is ideally a smidgeon smaller than the pillow itself, so it fills it out nicely.

·         Cut a solid front for the cover. 

·         For the back, cut two pieces about 4-inches wider than half of the front cover.

·         Press a fold in place so that the two back pieces overlap at least 2-inches.

·         Serge along the both raw edges that will form the “flap”.   (Photo taken later to show where you serge the raw edge of the flaps.)

·         Place the two back pieces together over the front; adjust the fold.  Mark where Velcro should go to close the cover when it is on the pillow. 

·         Sew the Velcro strips in place.

3.            Make cording (or used purchased cording)

·         To make cording, cut bias strips about 1-1/2-inches wide (or larger for fatter cording). 

·         To join bias strips, place one strip at a 90-degree angle to the other strip, right sides together.  Stitch diagonally across the strips.  I find it works best to begin the stitching a tad to the right of the actual meeting place of the strips, beginning one stitch above the edge of the bottom strip for a perfect “join”.

   

·         Use cording foot on serger (or zipper foot on sewing machine) to sew as closely as possible to the cording.

4.            Appling the Cording

·         To begin applying the cording to the pillow cover front, pull a little cording out of the cording casing at the beginning of the strip.

·         Beginning in the middle of one side, let the empty cording casing hang over the edge.  Begin serging down that side, applying the strip to the front cover.

·         Serge to where you can see where your corner will turn.  Clip the cording there and turn cording at a right angle towards where you will sew the next side.  Continue serging in a straight line off the edge.  Trim threads.

·         Place the cording down the next side.  Serge, clipping at the next corner.  Serge in a straight line.

·         Repeat for each side until you come to the last side. ·         On the last side, a couple of inches before you get to the place you began, stop. 

·         Cut a “tail” about 2-inches longer than needed to “meet” the cording; pull the cording casing back and clip out the cording. 

·         Flatten the casing (your cordings should just about meet in the middle) and serge it down, angling the empty “tail” away from the pillow cover. 

·         Serge in a straight line over the place where the beginning and ending of the cording meet.

5.            Applying the cover back

·         With the Velcro strip “closed”, lay the pillow cover back on the front (right sides together).

·         Serge down each side in a straight line, serging off the corners, trip threads, and repeat until complete.

(And if you are not in class, you could consider making things a tad straighter! :-)

6.            Turn the pillow cover inside out.

back view (I did not actually put velcro on this "sample" pillow cover.)

front view - hermit crabs...

7.            Put pillow inside the cover.

[I no longer hate making pillow covers!]