I’ve had fabric and pillow forms hanging around my house waiting for me to be fabulous with them. I had dreams of invisible zippers and piping. But at this stage in my life (you know–6 kids including 2 toddlers and 4 jobs besides taking care of my home and family) fabulous just isn’t in my repertoire. I modified my expectations and got the job done in a few hours.
This is about as easy as you can get for home decor sewing. If you don’t feel like sewing you can buy these covers on etsy for around $15. I don’t sell them personally, but have seen the same prints I picked out floating around there. The pillow forms have no zippers or piping to slow you down, but are still removable and washable and look fantastic thanks to a simple overlap on the back.
I don’t miss the piping at all–and part of me thinks that piping would have given these an uppity feeling that I wasn’t going for at all. These are so easy that you could sew special covers for every season and switch them out on a whim.
I ordered my fabric from fabric.com with a coupon. I love that they have great customer service and free shipping on orders over $35. (They are not a sponsor..I’m just a happy customer.) If you have a piece of fabric that you want to fussy cut so a special part of the motif is centered on your pillow, order twice as much fabric. (If your motif is very large like the one below. If it is a small motif you can order less than that–but too much fabric has never been a problem for me :).)
Pillow Cubes is a great place to save money on pillow forms. I recommend feather pillows, because they fluff up well and never get permanently flatten.
The other 5 of the pillow forms were repurposed from pillows I had lying around. A few I bought at a garage sale for $.50 and just throw them inside whatever cover strikes my fancy. I will say that I knew the owner of the sale and trusted her cleanliness. I don’t think I would buy second hand pillows from just anyone.
Here are the basic sizes to cut your pieces: Please note that these measurements make a cover 1/2 inch smaller than the corresponding pillow form. This gives a nice full appearance to the finished item that makes it look more luxurious. I use 1/4 inch seam allowances since I do this on my serger. If you don’t have a serger, then stitch with a straight stitch and then zigzag over the raw edges to keep everything from raveling. These measurements give a 4″ overlap in the back which is enough to keep the overstuffed pillow from gapping but not so much that the pillow form is hard to insert. All measurements are in inches.
Start by Cutting 3 rectangles. Match the measurements to the size of your pillow form.
10″ pillow form: 1 piece 10.5 x 10.5; 2 pieces 10.5 x 7.5
12″ pillow form: 1 piece 12.5 x 12.5; 2 pieces 12.5 x 8.5
14″ pillow form: 1 piece 14.5 x 14.5; 2 pieces 14.5 x 9.5
16″ pillow form: 1 piece 16.5 x 16.5; 2 pieces 16.5 x 10.5
18″ pillow form: 1 piece 18.5 x 18.5; 2 pieces 18.5 x 11.5
20″ pillow form: 1 piece 20.5 x 20.5; 2 pieces 20.5 x 12.5
22″ pillow form: 1 piece 22.5 x 22.5; 2 pieces 22.5 x 13.5
24″ pillow form: 1 piece 24.5 x 24.5; 2 pieces 24.5 x 14.5
Step 1: On each of the two shorter pieces hem one long edge by pressing under 1/4 of a inch twice and top stitching next to the edge. Time saving tip: If you haven’t learned to eyeball a 1/4 inch hem, try sewing a line through a single thickness of fabric 1/4″ from the edge and pressing on the thread line. After you turn the second time the thread line will be on the inside and completely hidden.
Step 2: Place the larger square face up on a table. Lay the two smaller pieces face down on top of it. Lining up the raw edges around the outside and letting the hemmed edges overlap in the middle. Stitch or serge all the way around the outside of the piece. If you are serging this, using your regular machine to reinforce the stitching at the overlap, since this area will receive the most stress. And use fray check on the corners to keep the stitches from unravelling. If you do not have a serger, stitch with a straight stitch and then zigzag over the raw edges to prevent fraying.
Step 3: Turn right side out, use a corner tool or chopstick to make crisp corners. Then stuff with your pillow form and fluff.
