Easy Envelope Pillowcase Tutorial

Last Christmas, my husband gave me a sewing machine to give me the opportunity to learn new form of crafting.  I never owned a sewing machine before.  In fact, the only time I actually used a sewing machine was in Home Education class in middle school.  Needless to say, I was and I still am a sewing novice. 

I am fortunate to have two expert sewers within the family, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, and they gave me a bunch of sewing project ideas over the holidays.  With their ideas and some of my own, I made two pillow cases that were extremely easy to sew.  I only used one piece of fabric, and the entire project only takes about a half hour. 

The pillowcase is designed for a standard 18"x18" pillow.  It is an envelope pillowcase, which means that it has an opening in the back.  The opening allows you to slip it on and slip it off your pillow whenever you please.  I love envelope pillowcases because when they get dirty, I can simply take it off my pillow and throw it in the washing machine.

To illustrate how to make this pillow, I made a few diagrams.  Don't worry, I didn't need to make diagrams because this project is complicated; I just think it's easier to follow along with pictures.  I confess, I was the kid who flipped through books to look at the pictures and not read a word.

On the diagrams, dotted lines imply that you should fold along the line, and dashed lines imply that you should sew along the line.  Also, red lines are to be performed in the work in the step, and black lines were sewn in a previous step.  Let's get to it!

1.  Obtain a 1/2 yard of your favorite fabric. My fabric is made by Birch Organic Fabric, and the design is by Charlie Harper.  All of the Harps (my husband's side of the family) are obsessed with Charlie Harper's art, which centers around nature, but has a geometric style. 

2.  Flip fabric over so that the back side is facing up.  Fold each edge of the fabric down 3/4" from the edge. Pin the folds in place.

3.  Flip fabric back over so that the front is facing up.  Sew a line 1/4" from the edge on the two short sides of your fabric.  Don't sew on the long sides yet. 



4.  Flip fabric over again. Fold the two short sides of the fabric towards the center.  Overlap one side with the other side by 1". The location where the two sides meet is where the opening will be on the back of your pillow.  The overlap prevents too much of your pillow from showing through the opening.

5.  Sew a line 1/2" from the two edges that are perpendicular to the opening.

6.  Sew two little rectangles that are approximately 1"long by 1/2" wide at the intersection of the pillowcase opening and the lines sewn in the previous step.  This rectangle provides some reinforcement at a location that would otherwise be weak when you are slipping the pillowcase on or off a pillow.  The easiest way to sew this rectangle is to sew one side of the rectangle, leave the needle down in the fabric, lift the foot up, rotate your fabric 90deg, put the foot back down, sew the next side of the rectangle, and continue in the same manner for the next two sides.

Voila!  You have created a durable, washable pillowcase.  I hope you enjoy these pillow cases as much as I do.