Super-Easy DIY Pillow Covers in less than 15 minutes!

I have a fun, easy, money-saving tutorial for you today - Super-Easy DIY Pillow Covers!


(This post contains some affiliate links which were added to make it easier for you to find the items. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you). You are free to use the links or not - if you do, I thank you!)


Have you seen the price of decorative pillows lately? Good grief! I don't care - even if I win the lottery, I will never pay $100 for a throw pillow. As a matter of fact, I don't even want to pay $25. My goal is to keep it under $10.

What's that? You don't know how to sew? You don't have a sewing machine? That's okay - you can still make these pillow covers with just a few substitutions!

What you'll need:

• Pillow(s) - or you can cover a pillow form (also here)
• Measuring tape
• Scissors or Fiskars 8-Inch Pinking Shears
• Fabric (I was able to get two 16" covers out of 1 yd. of 54" wide home decor fabric)
• Thread
• Sewing machine or Dritz 227 1/4-Inch by 20-Yard Stitch Witchery, Regular
• Optional: Velcro, embellishments - like buttons

Directions:

ONE: Measure your pillow(s). The ones I'm covering are 17" square. I'm going to make my pillow covers 1" smaller than the pillows so that the covers fit snugly and the pillows look plump. If you like a looser fit, make the finished cover the same size as the pillow.


TWO: Measure and cut your fabric.  I used pinking shears to cut my fabric to prevent fraying. Ideally, my fabric would be cut 17"X38", but I wanted to get two pillow covers out of 1 yard of fabric, so I cut it 17"X36". (Hey, I'm all about maximizing my potential!!) What this means is that the overlap on the back of the pillow isn't going to be "overlapped" enough to keep it completely closed - but I have a remedy for that.


THREE: Hem the two short sides. Working with the 17" sides, I ironed a 1/4" hem on both, then stitched it into place.

FOUR: Fold the fabric and stitch the two long sides. Lay the fabric right side up on the table, with the long sides at the top and bottom. Take the short sides and fold them so they overlap - usually close to the middle is best. (I placed mine closer to the edge with the floral print because I'm doing something different with it - you'll see in a minute.) How much they overlap depends upon the length of your fabric. Since mine was only 35.5" after hemming, and I want the finished cover to be 16"X16", my overlap will only be 3.5".  If you make it 5-6" it will stay closed and not require any Velcro. Pin long sides in place.

FIVE: Stitch the two long sides. Use whatever seam allowance that makes your pillow cover the size you need it to be. My folded fabric measured 17" across, and I wanted it to be 16", so I used a 1/2" seam allowance. I don't like my pillow covers to have super-pointy corners, so when I stitched the long sides, I rounded the corners. This is purely optional. If you like super-pointy corners, then just make the corners straight. Trim corners and any other seams that need it.


SIX: Turn right side out and insert pillow. That's pretty much it!!

FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T SEW OR DON'T HAVE A SEWING MACHINE: 
All you need to do is use Stitch Witchery to make your seams. When I say "sew" or "stitch" in the directions, you just close the seams with Stitch Witchery instead!

Now for my "adjustments" - and just to show you that everything doesn't always have to be perfect or follow the directions exactly...

Because my overlap was lacking, I needed something to help hold the cover closed. I used fusible Velcro squares. They're very easy to use - you just stick it on, iron it for 90 seconds, let it cool, and you're good to go.


On one pillow, I decided to put the overlap "flap" in the front. I added the Velcro, then I hand-stitched three decorative buttons along the edge. Love it!!