Let's Make an Envelope Pillow
I love throw pillows. They are a great way to add a pop of color, bring in a dash of the season, or freshen up your room decor without the hassle - and expense - of new paint or furniture.
What shocks me is how much pillows cost these days! As a girl with a sewing machine - and a TON of fabric - there's no reason I can't make my own.
In this tutorial I'll show you how to make an envelope pillow. Why envelope pillows?
- Easy to store - especially seasonal pillow covers that you don't keep out year long.
- Easy to clean - just remove the pillow form and clean as directed.
- Easy to make - no fighting with zippers and hand-sewing them closed.
BONUS - These adorable pillows are made from PLACEMATS! Yep, you read that correctly. Placemats.
I found these on Amazon and at my local dollar store. I've made these pillows with placemats shaped like pumpkins, fall leaves, tress, snowflakes - whatever I could find!
For the pillows shown in this tutorial I crocheted the background fabric (HDC) and then felted it in the washer and dryer, but you can certainly use any other fabric you like. If you do crochet (or knit or weave) your own fabric and felt it, be sure to take into account shrinkage. I found for 100% wool yarn I needed to crochet a piece that was twice as big as my finished measurement.
Let's dive in!
Materials:
- Placemat
- Fabric for Top - use a heavier woven fabric or add interfacing to a lighter weight fabric
- Fabric for Back (I used a canvas drop cloth!)
- Coordinating thread (match the placemat edges)
- Straight pins or clips
- Optional:
- Heat-n-Bond Heavy - if you don't want to sew you can use this product to attach the placemat to the top fabric.
- Heat-n-Bond Lite - if you have a "whimpy" placemat adding some of this to the back will give it more "body" which makes it easier to sew. You can also use a fusible interfacing if you don't have the Heat-n-Bond.
Method:
- Press or steam your placemat to remove any wrinkles or folds.
- Measure your placemat. Measure both length and width at the widest point. Add at least 2 inches to account for the background and seam allowances. Ex: If my placemat is 15 x 17, then I'll need the top fabric to be 17 X 19.
- Cut your top fabric.
- Center the placemat on your top fabric as desired. Pin in place.
- Sew the placemat in place. TIP. I use a straight stitch and follow along the edges as closely as I can. I try and match the thread to the fabric. In this case I used red thread.
- TIP: Go slow. Stop to re-position your pins as needed.
- Sewn in place - top view.
- Sewn in place - back view.
- Your pillow top is ready for the next step.
- Measure the finished length and width of your pillow top. In my example the top is 18 x 18.
- Take the width measurement and divide by 2, then add 4.
- Example: 18 inches / 2 = 9 inches + 4 = 13 inches.
- Based on this, I am going to cut TWO pieces for the back, both 18 x 13 inches.
- NOTE: The extra 4 inches allows for your back pieces to overlap, which will conceal the pillow form inside.
- Two cut pieces for the back, each 18 x 13.
- Fold, press and pin the one side to create the hem. Sew in place. Repeat for the second piece.
- With right sides together, pin or clip the first back pieces to the front. Sew in place along three edges. Be sure to NOT sew the hemmed edge.
- Pin or clip the second back piece to the front piece right sides together. This piece will overlap with the first back piece. Sew in place along the three edges.
- Clip the four corners being sure to not cut the sewing line. This will allow for cleaner corners when you turn the pillow right side out.
- Turn the pillow right side out. Give it a gentle press or steam.
All done! Now it's time to make a pillow form to go inside. Click here for the tutorial: How to Make a Pillow Form.
