I love pillows. Can you tell, all those pillows are currently on my couch. Yep, I may have a problem. If I had it my way I would have them everywhere in my house. My husband, he's not so enthusiastic about my love of these comfy, soft squares, but he is coming around. The only thing is with 3 kids running around I find that our pillows can get pretty downright grimy. And don't even get me started on the stains! While washing and refreshing my actual pillows is a necessity at times, there are sometimes that I just want to switch out the cover. Whether it had a meet and greet with Lizzy and Lily, need I say more? Or if I feel like the room needs some new life. They can add some fresh design without breaking the bank.
Covers for my pillows was actually the first sewing project that I ever undertook so if you are a newbie, start here. I promise it is painless. Well stick pins aside almost painless. While I have made button and envelope close covers my favorite has to be a zipper cover. Again, I have a toddler, a very busy one and buttons seem to go flying off and pillows magically end up outside of their covers with the other two closures when she is around. Zippers, she has not mastered yet, I know yet... So if you are ready to take on a project that is easy and you can do in one nap time or about 1 hour pull out that sewing machine and we can get started!
First you want to gather your supplies:
Fabric
Zipper
Coordinating Thread
Sewing Machine
Straight Pins
Seam Ripper
Scissors
I like a snug pillow cover so I cut 2 pieces of fabric to the same dimensions of the pillow I am covering. Today I had a pillow that was 22" x 22" so I cut two squares that were, you guessed it 22' x 22". For the zipper you want a zipper that is 1" shorter than the length of the side you are putting it in. So in this case you want a 20" zipper. I prefer invisible zippers but you can definitely use whatever you like or was on sale. I'm a sucker for a good zipper sale. I had to shorten my zipper so I just followed the instructions on the package to do so.
Now we are going to create a place for the zipper to go. Take both pieces of fabric and lay them together right sides facing in. Pin in place. Then you are going to baste, or sew with your sewing machine set to the longest thread length possible, down the side that you want your zipper to go.
Now you want to press that seam open.
Great! Now you are ready to install your zipper. Lay your zipper centered and zipper pull facing down on the seam you pressed open. Pin into place. We are going to sew down both sides of the zipper on the front side of the fabric. This is when that zipper foot for your sewing machine comes in handy. See you did find a use for it!
Time to expose that beautiful zipper you just installed. Using a seam ripper open up those basting stitches that you put in down the center and revel in the fact that you have just put in a zipper Yay!
Okay you're almost done. Now we have to sew the whole beauty up. Open the zipper halfway. DON'T FORGET this part or you won't be able to turn the cover! Fold the fabric back again so the right sides are facing in. Pin all the way around the remaining three sides. With a 1/2 inch seam allowance sew around all 3 sides.
Phew! Almost done, I promise. Now you want those pretty sharp corners right? So cut a triangle tip off the side of all the four corners. Turn the pillow right sides out and use the pencil to push those corners out. Press the cover and fill with your pillow form. Voila! You have a new cover for your cushion.
Great work! Just don't blame me if you start recovering any and every pillow in your house. I'm just saying...
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