I’ve got some throw pillows I need to cover in new fabric to match the colors in our new house – aqua blue and coral. I ordered microsuede fabric from mytextilefabric.com, first just getting samples to make sure the colors were what I wanted – all good. I love microsuede because it’s practically stainproof and you can throw it in the washer (I tested it first by rubbing in some red wine and then pre-treated it with a bit of OxiClean and it came out like new). In fact, I got an entire bolt of white for our new furniture and couldn’t be more pleased, because with three dogs, two cats and a man in the house, you know it’s gonna need cleaning on a regular basis.
The furniture has been in the house for about a month now, so I figure it’s time to get sewing up those throw pillow covers.
There’s only four runs of stitches to make. Basically this is a pillowcase with the opening on the back down the middle.
Don’t worry about being perfect with every single detail – I didn’t. Remember, you’re stuffing it with a pillow and that makes it very forgiving.
Easy Throw-Pillow Covers – no zippers!
Instructions
- Note: These instructions are for a square pillow.
- Measure your existing pillow's dimensions along the top and side seams using a measuring tape or by pulling the seam straight and placing it against a rule or yardstick.
- Here's an example of how to measure. As you can see, basically we're wrapping the pillow in a single length of fabric. Take one of the seam measurements and double it, then add 9 inches – this is for the overlay of your insert opening. For the other seam measurement, determine what your seam allowance will be (I used 1/2 inch), double that number and add it to the measurement.
- Lay out your fabric on a flat surface and smooth out any wrinkles and folds. If you have a rotary cutter and mat, terrific! If not, use the edges and corner of your table top to line up your fabric and keep it straight. In this picture I've marked my measurement with a pin, but a pen, pencil or fabric marker work too. Important: Trim off any selvage before doing your measurements and cuts.
- Now go ahead and cut your fabric to size.
- Finish the edges of the sides that will be your pillow cover opening. I've got a overlock machine for this, but turning the edges narrowly and sewing along them works great too.
- With the right sides of the fabric together, lay it out and on one of the edges that will be your opening, make a 3" fold so that you see 3" of the right side of the fabric. Stick a pin into it to keep it in place, and fold that side of the fabric over to about 1/2 the length of the entire run of fabric.
- Now fold the opposite end of the fabric so that the two opening slits that you finished line up. Pin the top three layers together, leaving the bottom layer free.
- The folded edge of the opening is what you'll see on the finished cover, so adjust the fabric so the fold is in the center(ish). Pin your fabric along the two edges that have yet to be sewn, and go ahead and sew those two edges using the seam allowance you calculated (I used 1/2 inch).
- Turn your pillow cover right side out and insert the pillow, making sure to reach in there and get the pillow into the corners.
- And there you go!
