DIY Pillow Case (No Seam Showing)

Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Remember once upon a time when cute pillow cases were the way candy was acquired and stored on Halloween?  Now we have the little plastic pumpkins or small bags that match outfits...emphasis on small?  My friend Mary made the above pillow at our scrapbook/quilting retreat this summer, and I sewed along with some extra fabric that was sitting around to learn the process of making a seamless (kinda-no raw edges showing at least) pillow case.
First, you need three fabrics.  The largest piece needs to be 7/8 of a yard, the accent strip is 1/8 of a yard, and the cuff is 1/3 of a yard.  (This makes a pretty big pillow).
First, take the accent piece and fold it in half and iron it.
Line the raw/open side of the folded piece to the length of one side of your larger piece, lining it evenly along this raw edge.  The fold will be aimed towards the rest of the fabric.
Carefully lay the cuff piece on to of this, facing down so the largest fabric piece and this piece have the right sides of the fabric facing each other.  The accent piece is sandwiched between the two pieces.
Pin all four (the accent piece is doubled) pieces of fabric all the way down, make sure your pins face horizontal to the fabric b/c you are not done pinning and you don't want this to interfere with your sewing in a minute.  All three are lined along the width of the fabric and they may be slightly different lengths, but you will trim those in a minute.
Open up the cuff so you can see the accent piece and all the fabrics are facing right side up.  
Take the bottom of the largest pieces and begin rolling it upwards towards the cuff.  Roll it tightly.
Roll it until you see the pins you just pinned along all four of the raw edges, keeping rolling it up until these raw edges match the second raw edge of the cuff.
NOW, pin these raw edges together (there are now 5 raw edges, the whole pillow is rolled inside the cuff, it's like a magic trick.
Now sew along these pins, catching all five raw edges in your seam.  
Then reach inside the burrito you just sewed and start pulling the inner fabrics out.
Notice how the cuff has no seam showing? Now fold the pillow case, with the fabrics facing out.  Trim the excess fabric on the sides, and then sew down the three sides, leaving the cuff open (obviously).  It seems weird to have the seam/raw sides out, but here's another trick to hide raw seams.
Now the pillow is sewed along the three sides, but the raw seams are visible....
Flip the pillow inside out, now sew along the three sides again, the outside raw seams are now getting 'tucked' and sewed inside this new inner seam on the inside.  
Fold it right side out again and you have a pillowcase with no raw seams showing inside or out.
Now....it's time to get this going with some seasonal fabrics like the first photo.

1 comment

Tamera said...

This is called a French Seam. I do this for my pillowcases, too. It makes such a nice finish!