I thought I would share some of the handmade gifts I sewed for this past Christmas. A few years ago I found this wonderful tutorial: How to Make a Vintage-Style Pillowcase
on Pleasant View Schoolhouse
and loved it. One neat thing about it is that you can use a more plain or utilitarian fabric for the actual pillowcase and then use a small amount of something more special or fanciful for the trim.
I have made quite a number of these pillowcases for gifts since finding this pattern. I usually leave off the rickrack, which makes it even easier. For me the most difficult part of making these is just working with the large expanse of fabric it takes for a pillowcase, and cutting it to the right size. I made a tracing paper pattern to use, and that does make it easier, but I still struggle with it. Once the fabric is cut it takes very little time -- between a half hour and an hour -- to put one of these together. So, here are some of the ones I made this year:
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| For a two-year-old grandson, a transportation print |
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| With a vintage-y rose border. I had no idea one could find tea-dyed fabric by the yard, but I found this (the solid) right in Walmart. The rose print came from there too, from their clearance fabric. The ribbon came around a box of chocolates and was a perfect match! |
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| And then there are these! I love this snowy village print! |
I am longing to make several sets of these for myself -- maybe even a set for every season. Perhaps this will be the year I manage to do that!
Love your pillowcases - is that the method of making a pillowcase that everyone is talking about? I think they call it "hot dog" or burrito. Thanks for sharing your treasures. Judy C
ReplyDeleteHello, Judy!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my kitchen table! I am not sure what this method of making a pillowcase is called; Anna of Pleasant View Schoolhousejust called her tutorial (which I think was written in 2007) How to Make a Vintage-Style Pillowcase. I will need to google hot dog or burrito pillowcase method and see what it's all about.
Stop in again sometime ... I visited your blog. It's lovely! Such nice projects!
I am drooling over those rose pillowcases Mrs T! I like all of them but that one is just my style. My mother has made me some pillowcases out of 100% cotton and I love them as well. It is hard to find quality bedding!
ReplyDeleteI know, Arlene, I love the rose pillowcases also. Wish I had bought more of that rose fabric; I think it was only $2/yard, if I remember right! I thought that the tea-dyed muslin complemented the rose fabric so well. At some point I need to go back to that Walmart (ours no longer carries fabric) and see if they have any more of it. At the time I bought it, I was trying to get all the fabric I needed for Christmas gifts and was trying to keep costs way down. Otherwise, I would probably have bought more then.
ReplyDeleteHi Mrs.T,
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that rose pillowcase too.It is so pretty.:)My mother in law has made pillowcases for each of our children in some of their favorite prints and it makes them so much more special.What a great gift idea.I so wish I had learned to sew growing up.
Nikki,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the sweet comment. That's so neat that your mother-in-law has made pillowcases for the kids. I enjoy making them for the couples, too. It's fun to choose fabric I think they will enjoy.
About sewing -- don't feel bad. Although I took a sewing class in junior high, I didn't really learn to sew until I was a young mom. My mother-in-law encouraged me to learn, as she knew with 2 girls I would need a lot of dresses and skirts! So I started small and learned from there. I am far from being a good seamstress, but I can do simple projects and these pillowcases are very simple. Just sewing straight seams. So if you still don't sew much, you might like to give these a try. (As if you needed another thing to do in your busy life!)