LoLo Tute: Easy Pillowcase (and a Giveaway!)

The giveaway is now closed. Congratulations, Melissa!!

(You might have already seen this post. I tried to get things done ahead of time...and apparently, got things all mixed up, with three or four posts going up in the same hour. Derp. So. Here you go! Giveaway!)


Now, I certainly can’t take sole responsibility for this tutorial. The original directions were found here, from Su at Vively Online. So, if you want a sweet little cheat sheet that you can print out…head over! She’s awesome!

But, if you’ve gone, say, to IKEA and picked up a Fjadrar pillow (because they’re big and filled with feathers and oh-so-cheap), I’m about to show you how to make a case for it. And you don’t have to think about any measurements. Sound good? (This, by the way, makes an envelope style pillow case.)

(This would also work for any square 20x20 pillow. Just so’s you know.)
First, round up your fabric. I’m using a cotton print from IKEA here, that used to be my drapes. Just about anything will work here. Now, cut it to size. You need a rectangle 19.5” x 45”.


Heat up your iron, and find one of the short ends of your rectangle. Fold 1/2” of the raw edge toward the wrong side of the fabric and press. Now, fold it down 1/2” again and press. Do the same thing to the other short side, then head over to your machine and stitch both hems down, close to the open edge so they don’t flap around.

Lay your fabric right side down on a table, and fold up the closest short edge to about the middle of the fabric, like you’re folding a letter. On the wrong side of the fabric, measuring down 5” from the hemmed edge, make a mark on the left and right sides of your fabric.



Now bring down the other hemmed edge to that mark. Pin through the top two layers so that you now have a tube.

Now that your tube is pinned, you can sort of roll it a bit to make sure that the second layer (what will be the outer layer when you turn this thing right side out) is positioned just about in the middle. (Here you can see that my 20” case is laid on my cutting mat, and the second layer edge just about lines up with the 10” mark.)

Making sure everything is flat, even and nice, pin it if you like, then put a seam on both remaining raw edges.

Snip your threads, flip, and you’re done!

Now, here’s the fun part. Just because it’s a new year. And because I have this insane goal to actually put things in my etsy shop this year, despite all the crazy new tax laws, so I need to practice sewing a few things. And because I love you.

Do you happen to have any 20x20 pillows around? Or live close to an IKEA? Or just really need more pillow cases in your life? I’m giving away a set of the pillow cases featured in this tutorial to one lucky reader. So, if your home needs more brown, green and khaki in its life…this is the giveaway for you! Simply leave a comment on this post to be entered. I’ll pull a winner early next week, and announce it…mid week. (See what I did there? This way, if I forget to take any of these actions, I can just tell you that it’s all on schedule. Heh.)

PLEASE make sure to leave an e-mail address in your comment. A winner without contact information…will quickly become that-person-that-could-have-won if they’d only had contact information!

Good luck! And here’s to doing 2011 up right!