I’ve been on the hunt for some cute, but cheap throw pillows for our couch for quite some time – why are they so hard to find!? Finally I decided I should just find cheap pillows in the size I wanted and then cover them with a fabric I like…
I found these on a local for sale site – they’re 18″ and I got them for $8 total – not tooo shabby.
This fabric I got for free from our local “free-cylce” group and I knew I wanted to use it as soon as I decided I was going to cover my own pillows! For my 18″ square pillows, I cut two 19″x43″ strips {one for each pillow.} The 19″ is the height, and I just added 1″ for the seam allowance. For the length I knew I wanted thicker hems for the overlapping flaps {2″} and I wanted allow 3″ to overlap my pillow opening: 18+18+2+2+3= 43″.
After ironing my fabric strips smooth, I folded each end over 2″, ironed them flat, and then hemmed them using the edge of the foot pedal as my guide for the seam. {I did one at a time.}
It was really hard to tell which side was the “right” side with this fabric, but you want the “raw” edge of the ends to be on the back side of the fabric.
To line up my overlapping flaps, I folded my fabric in half and marked the middle with a pin in either end.
I then overlapped the ends making sure they measured 3″ from the beginning of one flap to the end of the other.
Next, I pinned the middle of the flaps to the middle of the fabric on both sides and sewed the ends closed.
Here’s what the end looked like after sewing it shut:
And inserted my pillows!
I love how they turned out… and how simple it was to make these!
Oh wow – those look great! 🙂 You make me want to learn how to sew! :))
I'm also loving the gray striped look as well! I made some pillows and curtains with some similar looking fabric and I'm totally love it! Mini makeovers are so fun aren't they? 🙂
I love the fabric you chose! I was sewing up pillows last night too!
Love the fabric! They look so cozy.
How easy! I love the fabric choice. They look great! 🙂
Thanks! I've just been learning as I go… of course having a sewing machine helps a lot!
Yes they are! I've really been getting into stripes more lately… it's funny how tastes change with age 😛
haha! I just went to your blog to see your post on this again and noticed I commented on how much I loved the fabrics you chose! You're right… the stripes are way similar! Maybe seeing your post seeped into my subconscious when I was doing my pillows lol
Thanks 🙂 That's awesome! – Now that I know how easy it is, I'll definitely be doing my own in the future!
Wes's comment to me when he saw them was "I can't wait to put my head on those!" lol
Thanks! By the time I finished I was kicking myself for not doing it sooner 😛
love the fabric you picked. and I wish i could sew… what great talent to have!
I love the fabric you chose! they look great!
I need new pillows…definitely going to give this a try. Thanks for the great tutorial! Love the blog. xo
They turned out awesome! I am going to do this once we paint our living room. Cute throw pillows are so freaking expensive, I going to just recover the ones I have already.
So pretty! I love these.
How great are these??? Now, if only I knew how to sew… lol 🙂 There are some things I'm pretty god at, and sewing is unfortunately not one of them! ha!
GLAD you found me and commented on my blog! Super stoked to get to know you better! Following you too!!
XO
**good** Sorry 🙂
Thanks for your nice comment! I fell in love with your blog, has great ideas, you are very creative! haaa and your baby is beautiful! I follow you! http://vidadecoloresbynoelia.blogspot.com
Wow, those look great! You did such a fabulous job — and I LOVE the fabric! 😉
These are perfect. I've notice how much pillow case and slip covers now cost 🙁 Oh the biggest money eater? Duvets! Why do they cost so much why haha.
http://www.lyzhang.com
Great post Kate! I make all of my pillow covers this way. Sometimes it is hard to tell which side is the raw side, but most of the time the raw side looks slightly lighter than the other. And when you buy it from the fabric store, it's folded so that the outside of the fabric is facing out to the customer…so the inside is the raw side. Good job on adding an 1in. to the height to give room for the pillow…some people don't do that, and the pillow case ends up looking too tight. Also luv how you displayed the pillows so that the stripes are going in diff. directions..nice photo layout =) luv luv luv!!
They look beautiful! I am so going to try these, I have some fabric I want to turn into pillows but had no idea how to do it. Thanks for the tutorial!
P.S. thanks for your sweet comment on my blog. The pork chops are amazing, I think you'll love them!
Thanks! I'm learning as I go – that's for sure 😛
Thanks dear!
Thanks! 🙂
I know! I didn't think they would be that hard to find… so glad i went this route instead 🙂
thanks hun 🙂
Aww thanks! It's funny I actually let this project sit for probably a couple weeks because I thought it would be so hard to figure out – but once I just did it wasn't bad at all! Looking forward to getting to know you too! 🙂
Thanks! 🙂
Thanks! And great tips… someone gave me this fabric for free, so I just had to go with my "instinct" haha. And I played around with the directions for a while, so thanks for noticing 😛
Thanks… and no problem 🙂
I can't wait to try them on Wes! Always looking for yummy new dishes!
Sorry, just now seeing your comment! {For some reason you were marked as spam? 🙁 } Anyways, thanks! Yes it's crazy how much they cost… thankfully I finally decided to take the plunge and try my own 😛
Sorry, just now seeing your comment! {For some reason you were marked as spam? 🙁 } Yo're welcome && thanks for the follow 🙂