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The only season I decorate for is Christmas. Unless the kids take it upon themselves to put up the seasonal decorations that get passed on from grandma and Mimi, everything just stays about the same around here.
But the day after Thanksgiving? We get out the Christmas decorations. I have an 8 year old who absolutely loves Christmas decorations. It’s a fun day every year when my husband brings up all the boxes from the basement. I even made my first ever seasonal themed quilt a couple years ago. My kids love the cuddle minky on the back of our one and only Christmas quilt.
One of my sisters requested a Christmas pillow cover or two from some Rifle Paper Co Christmas fabric she found online. So I made two for myself too.
These are rather simple to make if you have the patience to learn how to put in a zipper. If you don’t want to tackle the zipper, try an envelope pillow cover instead.
Ikea has 20 by 20 inch down pillow covers for (currently) $8 a piece, and I’d recommend them if you enjoy changing out covers often. I’ve used them for years in our home as I change out pillow cover after pillow cover.
For a 20 by 20 inch fill pillow, I usually recommend an 18 by 18 inch cover. The cover won’t be extraordinarily tight, but it will be a good and snug fit. For a simple, single layer, of fabric plus a zipper, a pillow cover can be an extremely inexpensive way to change out your decor.
The biggest investment is the time.
How do you sew a pillow cover with a zipper? Here’s a tutorial.
Where are my favorite places to purchase fabric?
Sojo Fabric is where I purchased the Christmas fabric in this post.
Kiwi Fabric has been a long time favorite of mine, especially for Carolyn Friedlander fabric.
Handmade is Heartmade is huge yet I’ve had great customer service there.
Morgan Kelly Quilts is small yet lovely.
Modern Quilter has tons of Ruby Star Society.
Oak Fabrics in Chicago has rich, deep texture that you can’t find in quilting cottons.
I will often use Fabric.com if I’m in the market for a lot of yardage of a particular fabric.
How much fabric do you need for one pillow cover?
You’ll need 3/4 of a yard of fabric. The front panel of your pillow cover will need to be cut down to 18 1/2 inches wide. Since a half yard of fabric is only 18 inches, you have to get the extra quarter of a yard to make a good cover.
Take my advice and don’t cut corners. I’ve done it many times, and it almost always ends up in frustration.
Do you need a sewing machine for this pillow cover?
Yes, you’ll want a sewing machine. And if you want to put in a zipper, you’ll want the zipper foot for your machine too. From my experience, most sewing machines come with a zipper foot.
1. Cut the front cover of the pillow cover. You’ll need to cut a piece of fabric 18 1/2 inches wide by 19 inches tall. Here is a tutorial on cutting large squares. (The zipper uses up a bit of fabric. That’s why the front needs to be a tad taller than it is wider.)
If you are gifting the cover or selling it, I highly recommend you finish the bottom edge of the front cover.
If you have a serger, serge the edge. You can also run a zig zag stitch. Or you can make the front panel 19 1/2 inches tall and fold over a hemmed edge. Either way, you don’t want a frayed edge there unless it’s for yourself. 🙂
2. Cut the back of the pillow a little larger than the front panel. It can be rough cut, but give yourself at least an inch larger on all four sides than the front panel. Using the same recommendations from above, finish the bottom edge there too.
Above, the front is on the left. The backing is on the right. You can see it’s a bit larger than the front piece.
3. Place the front panel of the pillow facing down on the back panel. Line up the bottom edges and pin around your pillow.
4. Center your zipper on the table right below your cover and place pins right inside each zipper stop.
6. Sew 5/8 of an inch from the edge of the pillow to the pin marking where the zipper stopped.
And here’s the other end.
7. Switch out your standard foot to your sewing machine’s zipper foot. (The zipper foot allows you to run a stitch nice and close to the zipper teeth.)
8. With the zipper open, line up the zipper stop with where you sewed the two panels together. Line up the edge of the zipper with the bottom edge of the pillow.
Sew alongside the teeth of the zipper. (The zipper pull will eventually get in the way. I always stop sewing, move the zipper pull in the direction of where I’ve already sewed, and then keep going.)
You can see above that I have sewn down one side of the zipper.
9. Sew down the opposite side of the zipper using the same technique. (Flip the pillow so the other side is now by your presser foot.) I tend to keep the zipper closed while I sew down the opposite side. The teeth of the zipper need to stay pretty close aligned. Otherwise, the zipper won’t close well.
Take note that in between these two pictures, I would have moved the zipper pull. I have to stop sewing, lift my needle, move the zipper pull, and then begin again.
10. Now that your zipper is in, pin around the perimeter of the front panel if you haven’t already.
11. Ensure that your zipper is at least half open before this step. You’ll need it open just a bit in order to flip your pillow inside out.
Sew alongside the edge of the inside panel. You can do this with a standard sewing machine. Then you just trim off the excess. Or you can use a serger like you can see in the below picture.
Because I used white thread, it is a bit difficult to see, but in the above picture, you can see that I have sewn around the edge of the front panel while the pillow is inside out.
12. Flip it right side out!
