Sunday 18 November 2018

DIY: Bead embroidered pillowcase - Part 1: constructing the pillowcase

Many blessings!

Darkness has settled over Finland and in this darkness I find that a little bit of creativity brightens up my day. So I will share my latest project: A tutorial for creating beautiful pillowcases with simple embroidery and beads.

This tutorial is in two parts: Part 1 discusses how to construct a pillowcase using three different methods - easy, intermediate and advanced. Part 2 is all about the embroidery and also contains two methods. You do not need a sewing machine to create these but it does help.

So lets jump into this pillow-creation tutorial.

First off, you will need the following:

  • A pillow 
  • Fabric: enough to cover the pillow plus seam allowances
  • Thread
  • Needle or sewing machine
Optional (intermediate level):
  • Zipper
A note on measurements and seam allowance before we continue: I usually make my pillowcases slightly smaller than the actual pillow to make the pillow seem more plump. I do this especially if I have very soft pillows and I want them to appear a bit firmer. To do that I simply measure the pillow and use these measurements without adding seam allowance. When I sew I use a seam allowance of 1 cm (1,5 cm if the material is prone to fray). If you already have a very firm pillow you will want to add seam allowance to your measurements. I will not mention adding seam allowances separately after this so you will need to observe them yourself if you need them.

METHOD 1 (easy)

This is the easy method of constructing a pillowcase. It requires a little bit of hand sewing at the end and results in a pillowcase that is "permanent" unless you rip out the hand sewn stitches to remove the pillowcase. I would use this for a pillowcase that I do not intend to change, or for one that I can cover with other pillowcases if need be. Thus the inner case would protect the pillow inside further. You could also use this to create tiny decorative pillows or pincushions.

  1. Measure your pillow. Mine is 40x40 cm, so I will use that as an example. To cover the entire pillow I will need two pieces of the same size, but instead of cutting two and have more sewing I will cut one piece 40x80 cm in size. 
  2. I will fold this in half, right sides together and sew from the folded edge on both sides. Sew up along the open edges and around the top corners for a few cm then stop and secure your stitches.
  3. Turn right sides out and insert the pillow, then hand stitch the opening shut. 
Construction of pillowcase in method 1. 


METHOD 2 (intermediate)

This uses the same method of construction as the first one, but inserts a zipper in the opening. The order of construction is slightly different.


  1. Measure your pillow. Mine is 40x40 cm, so I will use that as an example. To cover the entire pillow I will need two pieces of the same size, but instead of cutting two and have more sewing I will cut one piece 40x80 cm in size. 
  2. Place the zipper to the right side of the short edge of the pillowcase and sew together. Repeat for the other side. 
  3. Now that the pillowcase looks like a tube as the zipper is attached, keep it right sides together and open the zipper slightly. Otherwise you will not be able to turn the pillowcase once done. Sew the side seams from the zipper to the folded edge. Then turn right sides out, insert the pillow and close the zipper.

METHOD 3 (advanced)

This method creates a professional looking pillowcase but requires a bit more cutting and planning. It uses zipper hidden under a placket on the back side of the pillowcase and is constructed from three pieces of fabric: the front and a split back.

The pieces for method 3 construction, and diagram of the joining of back pieces, zipper and overlapping knife pleat.
  1. Measure your pillow: Mine is 40x40 cm. That is the size of your front piece. For the back piece I want to place my zipper about 5-10 cm down from the top edge - let us for arguments sake say that I place it 8 cm down from the top edge. For the larger, bottom piece I will simply remove the topmost 8 centimeters and ass 1 cm seam allowance. My bottom back piece will thus measure 33x40 cm. I want the top piece to overlap the zipper with a couple of centimeters. So for the tops piece, which is 8 cm I will add 5 cm for the overlap (which will be folded double) and add 1 cam for seam allowance. In total: 14,5x40 cm.
  2. Sew the zipper to the top edge of the back bottom piece, right sides together. 
  3. Sew the zipper to the bottom of the back top piece, right sides together.
  4. Fold the top back piece over the zipper, creating a knife pleat that covers it. Sew down this pleat to keep it in place.
  5. Open the zipper slightly, and sew the front and back pieces together, right sides together. 
  6. Clip the corners and turn right side out. Insert pillow and close the zipper.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial.

~Stella

No comments:

Post a Comment