Quarter Yard Pillow Cover

      

  

This tutorial is for the Beginner's Class
@  Birdsong Quilt and Fabric Shop in Georgetown, KY.
   If you have a quarter yard of 2 different fabrics , here is how you can make a pillow cover for a 20 inch pillow.  It uses the envelope closure which is great for seasonal changes and super easy to make.
This project uses a 20 inch soft pillow form.
       Have fun and enJOY this idea!

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Tuesday Tutorial

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        Quilters usually buy fat quarters.  A fat quarter actually first comes from a half yard of fabric that was cut in half along the fold (at top of this picture) as it comes off the bolt of fabric.  Thus a half of a half is a quarter.  Because some feel there is more surface yardage this way, they call it a FAT quarter yard.
         I have bought fat quarters that had the selvage, which is the white part above, cut off.  

        After doing an internet search for quarter yard pillows, my return gave many FAT quarter yard pillows. We are not using fat quarters.  Birdsong like to sell by the yardage, even inches.  This really accommodates the garment makers.
       Above you see two pieces of fabric each being 1/4 yard.  They also retain their selvage edges which do not fray.  We are going to use that feature to our benefit to save some sewing time.

 

      Start by making sure the pieces are cut true.  If you have a cutting mat, use it to help determine if the edges are straight.  Selvages are the most important part of your fabric. First you must fold the selvages even.  If they are off, then the "grain" of the fabric will be off making your pillowcase, garment or whatever you will be sewing look warped.
      If you don't have a mat to help you lay your fabric edges straight, take notice of how the threads are running.  Pulling one thread can give you an idea of how straight the "grain" lies.

    THE FABRIC NEEDS TO BE CUT 10 INCHES FROM THE FOLD, because we have a 20 inch pillow form.
    If you don't have a cutting mat and rotary cutter, and you will be using scissors, you can mark your fabric with a tape measure.  A chalk marker is used here, but a pencil will work.

 Mark several times.

Connect the marks with a straight edge.

Just like geometry.

Then cut along line with scissors.

Otherwise CUT 10 INCHES FROM THE FOLD.

 Have longer side toward you.

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NOTE: if you used fabrics of different width your piece might look like the one below:

Don't panic.  Just overlap your backs to meet the edge of the front

MAKING SURE TO MATCH THE CENTER SEAM.

Trim off unneeded fabric.

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You can also make a pillow of:

school colors, especially for dorm rooms

 red and green for Christmas.

black and orange for halloween

pink and green for easter

red and blue for patriotic holidays

 prints

Then of course cut use scraps.

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Sharing at several Linky Parties.

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 Photoscape for downsizing & watermarking photo