Easy Pocket Pillow Cover Tutorial

My parents recently got some new furniture, and my mom asked me to cover a pillow I had made a few years ago so it'd match her new chair. This was my first time buying upholstery fabric, and it's crazy how expensive that stuff can get. Luckily, JoAnn's was having a huge fabric sale, so I got a great deal in just the shade and texture I was looking for. However, like most projects on this site, you can use any kind of fabric you want.

Next step? Figure out a removable pillow cover without using buttons, zippers, or any kind of notion that'll slow down the project. And, like usual, I'm not afraid to cut a few corners to save on time and stress (just don't tell my mom).

This easy pocket pillow cover tutorial is the result.

1. Cut the fabric. For a pillow approximately 13 in by 14 in, I started with a large piece about 36 in x 27 in. This gave me a lot of room to play around with the overlap for the pocket and how tight I wanted the sides to fit. If you’ve made a pillow case before and are sure of the fit you want, feel free to start with something smaller, at least for the width- I wouldn't go any smaller for the length- I used every inch.

2. Consider finishing your edges. You’ll probably want to start with finished sides on the short edges, since these will form the pocket. Although the edges will only be visible on the inside, you don’t want them to fray. Do this whatever way you’re comfortable. For me, one of the edges was the selvage, and I just left it that way- might not be kosher, but it's easy and quick. I zigzagged stitched along the other. At this point, since I wasn’t sure how much I’d be trimming off the long edges, I decided that I would trim the excess off later with pinking shears- this will also prevent fraying.

3. Once you’ve finished the edges, fold over each of the short sides about 1.5 inches, and stitch flat with a straight stitch. These seams will be visible on the back of the pillow, so do them as straight as you can!

4. At this point, what you’ve done probably seems like boring preliminary stuff. But be proud of yourself- you’ve only got two seams to go, and this pillow case is finished! Lay your fabric out and put the pillow on top, like you’re going to wrap it as a present. Fold up the short edges so you can see how the pocket will overlap. Mine does, about 1.5 inches.

5. All right, that was just to show the progress you’ve made. Now, unfold it, and do the same thing, but so the wrong side of the fabric is facing you. Pull the fabric tightly, and pin all the way down one side where you’d like the seam to fall against the pillow. Use a lot of pins so you know exactly where to place the seam. It might not be a straight line- mine flares out at the ends slightly to accommodate the corners. Again, make sure you’re doing this with the right sides of the fabric together.

6. Carefully pull the pillow out without displacing any of your pins. Now, stitch straight down that line of pins. I’m impatient, so I flipped that sucker right side out to see how it would look when I stuff it with the pillow.

7. Not bad so far. Now, repeat five above, and turn the pillowcase back inside out, and pin the remaining side. Make sure you pin it so the overlap is nice and tight- you don’t want it to gap later, although if it does, you can always add a couple buttons and buttonholes (if you know me, you know that I’m trying to avoid that possibility at all costs). Pin all the way down like you did before.

8 Very carefully, pull the pillow out through the pocket without popping any of the seams off. Of course, there are ways to do this without pinning the pillow inside, but those methods require measuring, and that is also something that I like to avoid. I find that I use the seam ripper about the same amount either way. Stitch down the remaining side.

9. That’s it! Before you trim off the excess fabric, turn it right side out and make sure the pillow fits inside the way you want it to. Here’s my finished pillow. You can see that the pocket does gap a bit. So, I added a quick fix. 

 

10. Don’t worry, this is an easy fix. You can add a button and buttonhole, if you’re comfortable with that. but I did not. I added some hand stitches to the pocket, one on each side, still leaving a wide enough opening to pull the pillow through. It's hard to see in the photo, but there's a little pucker where each stitch is. While the pocket is still a little gappy, it's not going to fall open.

That's the pillow! All ready to go home to its brand new chair. :)