New Envelope Pillow Covers for Christmas

One of the things I wanted to do last year was re-cover all the throw pillows for Christmas, but the fabric I ordered didn't arrive in time. This year, with the fabric in hand, I finally got my chance. I spent a Saturday afternoon slowly cutting, pinning and sewing while watching movies. Of course, the tv is downstairs and the sewing machine is upstairs, so I'm only catching like every other half-hour of the movies.

Step 1. Measure, Cut and Prep Fabric
First up, I quickly wash and dry my fabric to preshrink, and quickly iron it flat. Then, I remove the first pillow cover and measure it: an 18" x 18" square. Next, I cut my fabric into three pieces: one square (Piece B- will be the front of the pillow) that is 19"x 19" (should be 1" more on both sides than the previous pillow cover), and two rectangles (Pieces A and C) that are 19" x 13" (same height as square piece, 6 inches shorter on the length).

cutting fabric is more difficult with playful monsters.

Step 2. Hem Long Edge of Both Rectangles
I fold a half-inch seam on the long each of each rectangle pieces, pin and sew closed.

Step 3. Layer and Sew Top, Bottom and Side Seams
I start with Piece B, right side up. I take Piece A (wrong-side up, with hemmed edge to the right) and place it on top of Piece B. Then I take piece C (which is wrong-side up, with hemmed edge to the left) and place it on top of Piece A. So now we have a pile of all three pieces, with all the right-sides of the fabric inside and only wrong-sides of fabric on the outside. Then, I pin half-inch seams and sew along both vertical edges, and then both the top and bottom edges.

Step 4. Open and Stuff
Last up, I flip out the pillow cover through the envelope opening, and stuff in my pillow.

Step 5. Repeat
I did the same thing for my other pillows, slowly working through all the fabric. After just a few bad movies, I was all done, with six new pillows to festive-up the living room.

two new christmas pillows