Easy Toddler Pillowcase

I welcome you to Joey's first pillowcase tutorial! We figured he was old enough to have his own pillow, and I wanted to encourage him to welcome the change (he's NOT good with change) by having him pick his own pillow fabric. Fun, right?

Easy Toddler Pillowcase (14" x 20" pillow insert)

*Fabric of your choice (I bought 1 yard, but you could get away with 1/2 provided you'll be doing a cuff also)
*ribbon or extra fabric for embellishment
*coordinating fabric for the cuff
*coordinating thread

Seam allowances: 1/2" unless otherwise stated.

1.  Prewash and iron the fabric. This will make it easier to work with.

2.  Cut the fabric. This is ALWAYS my least favorite part...

• Case: 32" x 15-1/2" (you'll be folding this in half to cover the pillow)
• Cuff: (2) 15-1/2" x 7"
• embellishment: (2) 15-1/2" x 7" (I used 3/4" grosgrain ribbon)

3.  Baste the embellishment onto the right side of the cuff fabric as close to the edge of the embellishment as possible. It depends on how much embellishment you want showing, but I moved mine in 1/4" so I had 1/2" of ribbon showing on the pillowcase.

4.  Then, I folded in and ironed my 1/2" hem on the short side of the case fabric and pinned the cuff fabric right underneath it but only as far in as the 1/2" seam. Sew as close to the edge of the case fabric as you can get. Then, I sewed a second seam 1/4" away from that one.

• So you see, I have the case fabric on top (right side up) with the cuff fabric (also right side up) and basted ribbon underneath at the 1/2" seam line.

5.  Fold assembly in half with right sides together. You can take a look and make sure your embellishments line up, if you like. I took a peek, but I didn't really care all that much. :) Sew your 1/2" seam on both long sides.

6.  Now you can turn it right side out and press all your seams.

• It looks really nice when you fold the fabric in half instead of sewing those 3 sides.

7.  Measure 1" all around the cuff and fold/pin/press the fabric in at this point.

8.  You can use whatever color thread you like, but I chose a contrasting red color to bring in more of  the color of the case fabric. Sew at 5/8" and then again at 7/8" for a nice look. 

9.  Press one more time, admire your work and you're done! 

• The contrasting color thread on the black cuff looks really neat!

After I finally figured out all my dimensions, it only took me about an hour to put this together. Now that I have my instructions, the next one will be even quicker. Will I be moving on to sheets? I have NO idea. We'll have to see how brave I get. :)

For now, we'll be building Cars-themed fluffy pillow forts and sleeping comfortably.