tiny happy

Today I thought I'd share a super simple and practical tutorial. Make yourself a pillowcase or two, finished with French seams. The beauty of this method is that a case can be made from one length of fabric and it's super simple to do.

I've also included instructions for shorter lengths of fabric, in case you don't have a piece long enough. Here's another tutorial I wrote (in 2014) that works well, but I think this method is simpler and neater.

A pair of linen or cotton pillowcases makes a great practical gift, too. I made these blue pairs for friends recently. For the pair on the right I used some beautiful block-printed cotton I found at the op shop!

You'll need:

1.6 metres of cotton or linen fabric (to make a matching pair of pillowcases) or less if you will use more than one piece of fabric.

Sewing machine, thread, tape measure, scissors, iron

Method (from one piece of fabric)

Wash and press your fabric and cut a length measuring 50 cms X 160cms. * Take one shorter edge, and press under a 1/4'' hem. Fold edge again and press. Stitch folded edge in place. Repeat on other side so that both short edges are folded and hemmed.

Lay the length of fabric out on a table. With wrong sides together, fold one short edge over to make a 6" (15cm) pocket. Still with wrong sides together, fold the fabric in half width-ways. One hemmed edge will lay on top of a folded edge. Pin along both side edges and stitch in place using a narrow seam allowance. Press seam and trim any excess close to the stitching line.

Turn the case inside-out and press the side seams again so they are flat and neat. Stitch them again with a slightly wider seam allowance, to create an enclosed seam (for this seam, I line my presser foot up against the edge of the first seam as a guide).

Turn right side-out, and push out corners, trim seams and press again. All finished!

Method (from smaller pieces of fabric)

If your fabric is not long enough to use the first method, you can piece it together so you can use a smaller, favourite piece on top and another fabric on the bottom of the case. Instructions for this method below.

Of your top fabric, cut a piece measuring 50cms X 90cms. Of your contrasting fabric, cut a piece measuring 50 x 75. With wrong sides together, sew these pieces together at one short end. Press and trim seam, fold with right sides together, and stitch again to enclose the first seam. Press.

Now continue to construct pillowcase in the same way as above, starting at *. Remember to fold the envelope 'pocket' from your feature fabric end.

I made this sunflower pair using this method, because I only had 1 metre of the block-printed fabric and wanted to showcase it. I used some green cotton for the back of the cases.