DIY No-Sew Fabric Pillow Covers | Nursery Project

 

Like I’ve mentioned previously, Molly + needle + thread = disaster. I can’t sew.

So, I had these two throw pillows that I had bought from Anthropologie WAY back in the day, but didn’t use them anymore because, well, I live with a boy now and they were a little too girly. I had wanted to find pillow covers for them, but they were an awkward size, so no pillow covers were to be found.

I then got the crazy idea that I would cover them on my own with leftover fabric I had laying around.

Thus, these no-sew fabric pillow covers were born!

Now, I will tell you that I spent A LOT of time Googling trying to find a good “no-sew pillow cover” tutorial on the interwebs are there are plenty out there. But in all honesty, they were all really confusing and had me lost at like step two.

So, I figured the inner-sorority girl in me who spent many a night crafting in college could figure it out on my own. Right? Right. Sort of.

Anyway, I thought I’d share with y’all the steps I went through and how I made these pillow covers! (Which, of course, you could make for any size pillow).

 

Gather Your Materials:

• Iron
• Ironing board
• Fabric of your choice (make sure you have enough according to the size pillow cover you are making)
• Pillows (duh)
• Measuring tape
• Scissors
• Iron-on adhesive (I used Heat N Bond Hem Iron On Adhesive) – You can get it at Wal-mart or any craft store for like $1.25:

Here are my pillows. See? Very pretty, just not practical in a home with a husband.

Step One: Remove the pillow covers and measure your fabric

I took the pillow covers OFF the pillows and used them as my template for how much fabric to cut. I was PUMPED that I had enough leftover fabric from the curtains to make at least one cover.

For one of the panels, measure and cut your fabric and leave AT LEAST an inch (preferably TWO inches) of space on all sides. So, basically, cut your fabric so that it’s two inches LARGER than it needs to be.

For the SECOND panel, cut it so that it’s actually about 5-6 inches longer on one side. So basically, one panel is going to be way bigger than the other.

And yes, I did cut each piece of fabric into TWO panels*… I didn’t leave one long piece to fold over.

*Again, there are probably 50 ways of doing this, this is just how I opted to do it.

Step Two: Start your hemming process

This is where I really just got creative and flew by the seat of my pants. I started hemming the fabric (on the INSIDE of the fabric) on all four sides of the fabric. BE SURE to follow the directions of the hem tape for the hemming process.

Step Three: Iron the pillow panels together to create an “envelope.”

Now, this may get a little confusing to explain, so bear with me. You then want to take your panels of fabric and place them with the OUTSIDE of the fabrics touching (so basically the INSIDE of the fabric is facing out. Remember, one of your panels is bigger than the other, so you then want to iron the bottoms of the two panels, but one panel is going to be sticking out over top of the other panel. (Goodness, I hope that makes sense).

Then, repeat this ironing process on the three sides that MATCH UP, leaving that longer edge open. Thus, you’re creating an “envelope.”

Step Four and Five: Stuff your pillow and seal your pillow!

So this picture below better explains what I mean with regards to how the pillow cover panel is longer on one side.

Once you have the three even sides ironed and hemmed, flip the cover right side out so the OUTSIDE of the fabric is now on, well, the outside.

Then, stuff your pillow in!!

I don’t have a picture of the last part because I was trying to figure it out… but basically, I then put hem tape on and sealed the pillow shut. Yes, I also know there are ways to make pillow covers so you can change them out… this is not one of those ways. This is just how I opted to do it and it worked well for me. 🙂

And VOILA! A brand new pillow! But alas, I did not stop at one pillow. I continued and did the second pillow (which I did a little better this time), and I followed the same steps as before.

Here’s a better picture of the process of hemming the pillow shut:

VOILA! Two adorable pillows!

Finished product!

Soooo, whattya think? Aren’t they so cute? I know they’re not “perfect,” but I LOVE how they turned out!

What about you? Have you ever attempted to “fly by the seat of your pants” and make pillow covers (or anything, for that matter)? Will you try this?