Friday, January 22, 2010

Casing the pillow?……….

Since I have so many problems sleeping I travel with my own pillow.  We even recently bought me a new pillow so that I would have a fresh, fluffy new one.  But we had only bought a plain white pillow case for it. This quickly became a problem!! I almost left it in a hotel room twice and then the inevitable happened…..I actually left it in a hotel room.  It was easy to do since it had a white pillowcase like the other hotel pillows.  So I bought a new pillow again and since then I have been on the prowl for a new pillowcase. I was hoping to find a brightly colored one so that it would be easily seen.  Well, this search has been fruitless.  So yesterday when Mom and I went to Joann’s I found the most adorable fabric and I made two very bright cases for my new pillow. 
I have a great pattern for making pillow cases.  It’s super easy and really quick.  As long as you can sew in a straight line you can make this pillow case.  It makes a great gift for kids and teens!  One year for Christmas I made pillow cases and matching pjs for my nieces.
Standard pillowcase: 26” (3/4 yd) x 42” (width of fabric).
King pillowcase: 36” (1 yd) x 42”
Plus 9” (1/4 yd) x 42”
After cutting fabric, roll up the larger of the two fabrics leaving an 1”-2” for sewing. I like to pin each edge (edges only!) to hold the roll in place.
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Place the roll on the right side of the coordinating fabric, lining up the cut edges.
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Roll the coordinating fabric around the roll and line up all three edges. Think about the roll being a wiener and the coordinating fabric being the bun.  Pin to hold together, if desired. 
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Sew down the length of the fabric.  Remove pins from each edge of the roll.   Turn the entire thing inside out…or rather right side out.

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Sew the side and the bottom closed and PRESTO pillowcase done! I prefer using a french seam so that there are no raw edges.
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I don’t think I am in any danger of either of these pillowcases being accidently left on a hotel bed because they blend in with the white pillow!!! It took about 30 minutes to make both pillowcases. They are also cheerful which is appreciated since I have so few creature comforts of my own home.

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