Lulu Learns to Sew

Sometimes we wonder why we even make plans in the first place.

So begins the saga of the super easy (hmmm… “sew” easy?  too far?) pillow covers.

Trusty ole gray and beige - nice, safe, and very boring - are the dominant non-colors in our homes.  Elizabeth, always a real go-getter, decided it was time to do something about all that blah.

We set out on a mission to recover the pillows that came with her gray couch.  With the babies loaded up in their car seats, we headed to the Jo-Ann on the west side of town.  And, wow, so much fabric, so many choices.

After picking a swatch from nearly every roll in the “Home Décor Fabric” section, we decided that it was impossible to decide without taking the swatches home.  Anyway, we had a coupon that began the following day.

Back to the north side we went.

Picking the winning fabric actually wasn’t all that difficult.  Determining the quantity of fabric required for covering four pillows with two whiny/hungry/tired small children was quite difficult.

Nevertheless, we reached a decision and planned to reconvene the following day.

Once again, we loaded up the babies and headed west.

Now we never imagined ourselves as all that trendy, but evidently our taste in fabric is all the rage.  The previously full roll of fabric was nearly empty.  So we scooped up the remaining bit and asked the cutting board attendant if we could order more.  She checked her electronic doodad and informed us that not only was there none available in any warehouse, they would not be restocking the fabric in any stores or online.

Seriously?

Thankfully, her brain worked much more quickly than ours and she suggested that we use a different fabric for the backs of the pillows.

Genius.

Fabulous idea and the second fabric we chose was half the price.

We paid for our goodies and headed out (after we had to ask another employee to borrow scissors so we could remove a very special Minion toy that had gotten stuck to the shopping cart.  So embarrassing.)

A quick trip to the Home Depot and lunch at Chipotle (FTW) and we were back to the north side.

Everything was dandy until we realized that the kind cutting board attendant hadn’t included the amount of fabric we requested (as in “The whole roll please.  We need the whole roll”.)

One more trip to the west side and we finally had all the materials we needed to make the pillows.  And at this point, we were probably better off just buying some new covers.

Nevertheless, the show must go on… no good deed goes unpunished… something like that, anyway.

Please keep in mind, we are in no position to give a tutorial on the actual use of a sewing machine.  We are still learning about that beast ourselves.  However, here are the step-by-step instructions for creating your own pillow covers…

Determine the amount of fabric needed.

• Measure the length and width of the old pillow cover.
• Add two inches to the length and two inches to the width.  This is the length and width needed for the FRONT of the new pillow cover.
• Add eight inches to the length and 2 inches to the width.  This is the length and width needed for the BACK of the new pillow cover.  (The additional fabric allows for an “envelope” closure on the back of the pillow.)

Measure and cut the new fabric to the appropriate length and width.

• We used a measuring tape to measure and mark the fabric.  Then we used the measuring tape as a straight edge to draw a line where we should cut.

Prepare the BACK of the pillow case.

• The BACK of the pillow case will have an envelope closure.  So, measure and cut the length of the fabric in half.  (If beginning with a width of 12 inches and a length of 18 inches, you will end with two pieces, each 12 inches wide and 9 inches long.)
• With the inside of the fabric facing up, make a half inch fold along the width of each BACK piece.  We secured the fold using straight pins.

Iron the FRONT and the BACK pieces.

• Get out all the wrinkles and make sure the half inch folds on the BACK pieces are nice and straight.

Hem the folds on the BACK pieces.

• Our best advice here is to have your mom show you how to use a sewing machine.  You could also ask your granny.  She probably taught your mom.  (Hi, Granny!)  

Pin the FRONT and BACK pieces together.

• Lay the FRONT piece with the outside of the fabric facing up.
• Place the BACK pieces with the inside of the fabric facing up, on top of the FRONT piece.  The folded edges should overlap near the middle.
• Use straight pins to pin the BACK pieces to the FRONT piece.

Sew the BACK pieces to the FRONT piece.

• Once again, ask your mom to stand next to you while you sew a one inch hem around the perimeter of the pillow case.

Turn it right-side-out, stuff the pillow in through the handy envelope closure, and VOILA! – a whole room makeover!

That is, assuming you measured everything correctly… in our case, we needed to do some adjusting to the length and the width to get a nice snug fit for the pillow… otherwise it just looked like a dog bed.  BUT once it was all finished, what a difference it made in Elizabeth’s living room!

Your turn.  What are you making?