creative space: DIY Envelope Pillow

Call me crazy, but when my first package from Tonic Living arrived this week, I felt like Christmas morning. I had spent too much time thinking about what patterns and colours would work best for some pillows I wanted to make, that I was starting to have commitment issues. Even when I ordered 10 samples to narrow down the choices, I still had a hard time deciding. But I finally committed! My first project - the chevron print pillows for the couch. Here's the instant replay for you:

My pillow form was 16"x16". So I cut the back piece to 17" wide (allowing an inch for seams) and 23" high.

Then, cut it in half so that you have 2 pieces that are 11.5" (still 17" wide).

Cut the front to 17"x17". If your pillow isn't square, you want to make sure you cut the width to match which way you want your pattern to be.

Take half of your back piece and iron a hem - start by ironing 1/4" up...

Then hem and iron again at 1/4". Ironing helps to make sure the hems are straight!

Do the same thing with the other piece, then stitch the hems straight across.

Lay the front piece, right side facing up. Line up the unhemmed part of the square with the bottom of the front piece. This piece should have the front side facing down.

See how the right sides are together?

Then, lay the other piece on top, with the right side facing down. Line up the edges with the front piece. The 2 back pieces should overlap by 4 inches or so.

Pin it all down to secure it!

Then, stitch all the way around. At the corners it helps if you leave the needle in the fabric, then lift the foot and just pivot the fabric to start the new side. Saves thread :)

Trim all the edges to 1/2" seams, then turn it right sides out. Push the corners out so they look neat and take time to iron all the edges to be nice and crisp.

Stuff in your pillow form - you may have to knead it a bit to fill out the new pillow case.

Voila! Once you get good at it, this type of project will take 30 minutes or less. Oh, and another tip? I used 2 different fabrics because the patterns I chose were up to $25/yard...not outrageous, considering I could make 2 pillows with 1 yard, however I wasn't willing to double the cost to have the pattern on the back as well. So I just found something solid that matched and was half the price :) Happy sewing!