The Case For Pillowcases!

          The last push to get ready for camp next week is going strong.  I have a few girls who I am directly in charge of that I wanted to do something special for. I decided to make them pillowcases for their bunks at camp! Pillowcases are super easy to make and can add a lot of punch to a bedroom's decor and theme.  So, here are some instructions for making them if you have never made a pillowcase before.  When you just can't find the right sheets to go with a bedroom theme, making your own pillowcases along with some plain colored (and less expensive) sheets could be just the trick.

     I found this camouflage fabric at a fabric warehouse near us called SAS.  They have so many things at reasonable prices, especially if you have to make a large quantity of something.

        To begin, I used a pillowcase that I already had as my pattern.  I laid it out with the bottom on the fold of the fabric.  You may want to refold your fabric from vertical to horizontal to get the print in the direction you want it to lay on your pillow.  Allow about 5/8" seam allowance on each side of the case.  At the top where the opening is, you will want a deep pillowcase hem, so cut it about 5" longer than your pattern case.

      Because a pillowcase will have pillows slid in and out of it many times, potentially causing fraying, I wanted to make the inside seams very well protected from fraying.  I do not own a serger, so I gave my cases french seams like this:

With wrong sides of the fabric together, sew the side seams about 1/8" wide.

Then, turn the case inside out and sew the side seam again about 1/4" wide. I always use my sewing machine foot as a guide. You can also feel through the fabric where the edge of the first part of the seam is so that you make sure you are sewing just wider than it. You want to catch the first seam inside of this second seam.

On the inside, your finished seam will look like this. See! No frayed edges!

On the outside, you have a nice clean seam as well.

      Now you are ready to finish the top edge of the pillow case.  Since I was making a bunch of these for camp, I didn't use my iron. (Don't tell my mother!) But, just a warning, for nice crisp edges and points, it is important to use an iron whenever you do a sewing project.  In this case, I just did a lot of finger pressing.
      I started by turning down 1/4" of the top edge of the fabric and zig-zagged a small hem, once again, to get rid of the fraying.  Then I measured a 4" hem and pinned it in place all around the top, like this:
(Remember to click on the pictures for directions!)

Here is the 1/4" zig-zagged finished edge.

4" is a pretty standard depth for a pillowcase hem. Just fold it in and pin it all around.

After it is pinned, sew around on the bottom edge of the hem. I chose a decorative stitch that seemed to mimic the camouflage pattern. You can use a straight stitch or any style you would like. Just try to keep it straight and catch in the entire bottom of the hem.

Then, along the top edge of the pillowcase, I top stitched along the very edge to help it have a clean finished look that shouldn't lose its shape after many washings.

     Now, here is the finished look! I hope the girls like them! These would make great gifts for nieces, nephews and grandkids, too.  Let me know if you give it a try! I hope my directions were easy enough to follow.  Ask me if you have any questions.