Beginner Sewing: Large Pillowcase

First Stitch, by Francis Day 1863-1942  American

Commercial pillowcases can be expensive, and are not always made with natural fabrics. Some people sleep better when they use cotton or linen and avoid synthetics and blends. Sometimes it is difficult to find exactly the kind of pillowcase needed for an adult pillow, so today I am going to show you a few simple steps to making a large pillowcase.

As  in the picture, above, take a pillowcase you already have, and lay it down on your doubled fabric. You will notice the pillowcase has only two seams: on on the side, and one on the end. The other side is a fold. Place the folded side on the folded side of the fabric. Cut a few inches larger than the pillow case. On the opening end, leave about 6 inches of fabric, so that you can make that deep hem that you see on most pillowcases.

Open up the fabric you have cut, and with the wrong side facing you, turn down the raw edge at one end, one fourth inch and iron it down with a hot iron.

Then, fold down that hem again another 3 or four inches, as you see here. Hand stitch, using an over-cast stitch or slip-stitch, as shown.

The pillow from the previous entry shows the longer space on the right, for the deeper hem. You will be cutting around your old pillowcase, somewhat like this, leaving sufficient space, at least 2 inches, around the pillow.

Stitch the end and  one side, leaving a margin of about a half an inch.  In the future, I will show how to make a French seam for pillowcases. If you use a machine, you can zig-zag the inside seam to give it a finish and prevent the fabric from shedding threads.

While sewing this, I found out one of the reasons for such a wide hem on pillow cases. When the pillow is placed on the bed, sometimes a bit of the hem will show, and the hem will be folded over with the right side of the fabric, the most beautiful side, will be visible.

Beginners might enjoy this floral padded pig pillow or soft toy. the eyes are matching rose buttons, and the ears are lined with pink felt underneath. The curly tail is wired with a twist tie inside of the matching fabric, then tied with a pink ribbon.  It sounds complicated but is almost as easy as a pillow.