Easy Pillow Cover

I am back as promised with my easy to make pillow cover. Here it is all finished and I promise it's easy to do!

I started with a pillow I found on clearance at Tuesday Morning. It was a great price because the fabric was picked, which was fine by me since I just wanted the pillow form and zipper.

Since my pillow has a cover already, I am using it as my pattern and also removing and reusing the zipper. First, remove the pillow form then using your seam ripper remove the zipper. Now measure the old cover to determine what size fabric pieces you need. Mine measures 17”, so I trimmed my skunk embroidery to size and cut my back piece of fabric. I like to taper the edges of my pillows in a bit so the corners don’t get super pointy. On the open edges, I mark in ½” on the corner then taper it to the edge (about four inches). I marked that line then did the other side, then cut along those lines. I do this to all four corners.

Now iron the zipper. Mine was kind of coiled back, so I carefully ironed getting close to the teeth. If it’s not flat the needled can’t get close enough when you sew and the zipper will show. See how it uncurled as I pressed it.

I then eyeballed laying the zipper in the center of my fabric. Once placed I measured in 2½ inches from the edge and marked this on both the fabric and zipper for front and back pieces. 

To make sewing this zipper extra easy (no pins!) I am going to glue it. I read this tip on Pinterest and I am happy to say it works and it works well! I used a purple glue stick to attach the zipper. Just dab the glue along the edge of the fabric and press the zipper to it lining up the marks. Once adhered I used my iron to really set it. Then I did the same to the other side.

Now it’s time to sew. With the zipper, open and using an invisible zipper foot I stitched as close to the zipper pull as I could get then I did the other side.

 

 

Now to finish up the zipper side, mark where the stitching line would continue to the edge. Sew from the edge to about ½” past where your zipper stitches ended. Do the same for the other end. Notice the overlap.

Now open zipper about half way and lay fabric right sides together and stitch the other three sides. For the corners, some people clip and then poke them out I however don’t like this. I have accidentally poked through the fabric this way so instead I fold along one seam then the other making a corner and then flip. 

Crisp corners without worrying about holes!

Now turn and insert the pillow form and zip closed, done! Just look at that invisible zipper! It doesn’t matter what color the zipper is if sewn properly it won’t be seen. Only the pull tab is visible. Also, you can always paint the pull tab with nail polish if you do want a specific color. Isn’t this animal print so cute! I bought it at Joann’s a while back, I think it turned out perfect for my pillow. 

Hope you enjoy my easy pillow cover tutorial! As always comments and questions are always welcome! Check out my previous posting for information on the skunk embroidery by Alyssa Thomas at Penguin and Fish.

Equilaterial Triangle Quilt Part 2-Layout

Now that I have cut my triangles I am ready to layout my quilt. I always do this on the floor.  Some people lay quilts out on their beds or a table but I prefer my freshly vacuumed dining room floor. I dont know why, but I can't layout a quilt on a bed. It's very awkward an uncomfortable for me.  However, crawling around on the floor is fine lol! I must be part monkey! So here is my quilt during layout. 

I just randomly placed my triangles row by row until the size was what I wanted. This is the point where I like to step back and really look at what I have done so far. I think of it the same way as looking at art work: up close to see details then back to view as a whole. I do this in two different ways. First, and probably the easiest and most accessible, is to take a picture with your phone.  Which is what I did in the above picture. Second, I have this handy little tool called a quilt viewer.  It is a reducing lens that lets you see what a quilt will look like from a distance.

It was one of my Tuesday Morning clearance finds (I believe it was a whopping 80 cents! I love a deal!) and has turned out pretty handy.  Also in case anyone was wondering no, I am in no way affiliated with Tuesday Morning nor did they compensate me in anyway for saying nice things about them. I just really like that store! So, here is what the quilt looks like through the viewer.

Pretty neat right? Again either way works. I just stumbled upon the viewer and though why not try it and thought I would share how it works, but you don't need it. The objective is simply to step back, look at it as a whole. This helps me see if I like the color placement and where to make changes.  Once I am happy with that I take another picture. I always take a picture of my final layout. This way if a piece gets moved, a pet decides to run through the room, or if I have to get it up out of the floor I can lay it right back out the way I wanted. Now its time for the next step: Piecing!

What do you think? I am pretty excited about it! I like how colorful it is.  Perfect for a bright nursery. Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think, or if you have any questions or tips!