sewing pillowcases

The other week, my friend (let's call her Barbara, to protect her identity) was searching for vintage sheets. She wanted to create a cheerful mix-and-match collection of bedding from thrift store finds. At Value Village, we found a surprising number of cute designs that looked quite charming together. B's favourite pattern was a sweet, hand-screened flower pattern on a lemon yellow background. Unfortunately, it was a fitted sheet for a twin bed, so she couldn't use it.

"I'll just make it into pillowcases for you!" I offered. And so I did.

Did you know that you can learn how to do just about anything from YouTube? If you do a search for sew your own pillowcase you will find about 60 videos.

This is the one I used:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7moryq_ZRFY&feature=related

I ran into some trouble with the so called "French Seams" and eventually had to tear them out and do a regular seam, only because I was working with a smaller amount of material.

To create a bit of visual interest, I added a strip of gingham fabric between the border and the main pocket of the pillowcase. I took a bit of artistic license, but think B will approve!