A Much-Needed Pillow Makeover!!!

Now that summer is arriving, I have been searching high and low for ways to liven up our cozy little living room!!!! We have these cute, but very muted, pillows on our couch that were screaming to be replaced. A couple weeks ago, I was searching Jo-Ann Fabric’s for some fabric to recover a bench and picked up a couple different options. I LOVED the fabric you will see below, but decided that I was going to try to make pillow covers instead of using it on the bench.

Last weekend, I decided that I was going to make and COMPLETE these pillow covers. (I have lots of great ideas in my head, but actually getting them done—doesn’t come easy with two little boys running around and a husband who works long hours! Anyone else understand this?) After doing some quick online research, I decided to give DIY envelope pillow covers a try…no zippers and no hand stitching—I’m in!

I love how they turned out—stay tuned and you will see the finished product, but first I’m going to give you step by step directions in case you want to try it out!

First of all, this is the pillow that I started with! Yes, it’s HIDEOUS!!!! And don’t worry I wasn’t actually using this thing in the house, I had them stored in the attic. We got these complimentary when we bought our couch a few years ago—lucky us, right?

Step One: Measure the pillow with a tape measure. Stretch your tape measure across the center and measure from seam to seam. If you purchase a new pillow, just read the labeled size on the package. My pillow was 20 inches x 20 inches.

Step Two: Determine the amount that needs to be cut. For the front piece of fabric, just add one inch to each side which for my pillow meant that I cut a 21 x 21 square piece. And then for the back fabric, add 6 inches to one side and 1 inch to the other side. In this example, that meant I cut a 21 x 26 rectangle.

Step Three: Take the back piece (or larger rectangle), fold in half across the larger end (26 inches for me), and cut in half. You will have two rectangles of the same size (21 x 13 rectangles).

So now you should have three pieces of cut fabric…I had one 21 x 21 piece which will be my front and two 13 x 21 pieces which will make my envelope in the back.

Step Four: Hem one side of the two smaller rectangles, the back pieces. You want to hem the larger side of the two rectangles, so in my case, I hemmed the 21 inch side of my two back pieces. First, I folded the short side over 1/4 inch and then over again another 1/4 inch to make a nice clean hem. And ironed it. (The only time I like to iron and DO iron is when I sew-trust me, it helps) And then sew along the edge of each. Here’s what I mean about folding it over before you sew…

Step Five: Place the front piece between the two back pieces and pin them together with right sides together…

Step Six: Sew the pieces together with a 1/2 inch seam, iron seams open, and it should look like this…

Step Seven: Turn the whole thing over so the right sides are facing up, so when you pin the sides together, the right sides will be facing each other. Fold one of the smaller rectangles in and pin. Then, fold the other rectangle in and pin. These two pieces will overlap, therefore making the “envelope” for the pillowcase back. When you are done pinning, it will look like this…

Step Eight: Stitch down the two pinned signs with a 1/2 inch seam. Turn the finished product right side out, using a dull scissors to help poke out the corner to create the pointed corner. (You can also snip the corners of the square of the fabric, if you choose)

And voila…you have some beautiful, adorable new pillows all ready for the start of summer!

And here’s the back—you can see the “envelope” if you look closely!

Now, this may sound complicated, but it really was SO easy! And wasn’t that a major pillow transformation—from the before to the after. So go ahead and try it—honestly it was more complicated for me to explain how to make them than to actually sew them:) Yeah for summer crafting!

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