simple pillow tutorial

Sorry about the long and unplanned blog break, guys! As my belly grows, my productivity seems to be slowing… and there is still a lot to do before the baby gets here. The new website is getting close to done, and I’m working on a quilt pattern for the Monaco fabrics. Lots of fun!

I finally got my hands on the fabric yesterday, and whipped up a couple pillows for the nursery. The first project with the new fabrics! They’re really simple to make, so I thought I’d share a step-by-step today.

Supplies
1 18″x18″ square of fabric (front)
2 9.5″x18″ squares of fabric (back)
1 18″ zipper
matching thread & pins
1 18″ pillow form

This will make a 17″ square pillow case with a zipper down the center back. The slightly smaller size works well with the 18″ pillow form if you want your pillows plump and fairly taught.

1. Cut the fabric to size
2. Lay the back fabric face-down and iron a 1/2 inch seam at the inner edge of each back piece.

3. Lay the back fabric right side up, and center the ironed edges over the zipper, with the edges meeting in the middle.

4. Pin the back fabric to the zipper and sew, one side at a time, about 3/8″ from edge, making sure to catch the zipper binding.

5. When both back sides have been sewn to the zipper, pin the front and back sides together, right sides facing. Be sure the zipper is unzipped about 2 or 3 inches and the tab is in the “up” position, but be careful to pin the zipper teeth close together at the top. You will need to be able to unzip the zipper from the inside, but the teeth must meet up when fully zipped.

6. Sew a 1/2″ seam around the whole pillow. Clip the corners to 1/4″. Unzip the zipper from the inside, and turn the pillow right-side-out. iron edges flat and stuff with pillow form.