How to Sew an Easy Pillow Cover with Iron-On Applique

I made a few of these super easy and adorable pillows a couple weeks before Christmas and thought it would be fun to have a pillow making party/cookie exchange...with like 4 days notice.  It was an overwhelming response from all my girlfriends, 14 total ladies, coming over to our tiny home to sew over 30 pillow covers!  Derek and I LOVE having people over, so we were determined to make it work, and we were so excited!

The party was so much fun and everyone did such an amazing job on their pillows!  I'm so glad we decided to do it and will definitely be doing something like it again!

This tutorial was literally done an hour before people came over, so they're not great pictures, but hopefully help.  My uber talented husband actually sewed a cover for this tutorial :)

Supplies Needed for One Pillow:

12"x12" pillow form

1/2 yard fabric

coordinating thread

tulip iron on transfer

self-healing mat

rotary cutter

exacto knife

pattern of choice

sewing machine

scissors

pins

water soluble pen

iron and ironing board

How to make a pillow cover with applique:

1. Choose your fabric, fold, right sides together lining up edges, so you have two layers
   
   
   
   
2. Cut a 13"x13" square through both layers, using a clear ruler and rotary cutter, hold ruler firmly in place, (you should have two pieces)
   
   
   
   
3. Choose the Tulip iron-on sheet you want, trace the applique you chose onto the sheet (I just print some images from online and size them to what I need), using the exacto knife, carefully cut it out on a self healing mat
   
   
   
   
4. Mark the tops of your squares with two pins, open so the right side of fabric is facing you, find the middle with tape measure, mark with water soluble marker
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Place applique in the middle, with a piece of fabric over it, iron over it for 20 seconds without steam, remove fabric, check to make sure applique is secure
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Put right sides back together, matching the top pinned sides, pin a couple pins around the two sides and top, leave bottom unpinned
   
   
   
   
7. Starting on the bottom, sew a 3/8” seam (right before far clear edge) around the side, top and side, remember to backstitch at the beginning and the end, leaving the bottom open
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. Trim the 2 corners off at a slant, turn the pillow right side out
9. Using a knitting needle, gently push out corners, and all edges, iron the edges flat
10. Fold under both bottom edges about ½” iron so the edges line up with each other
11. Put pillow form in case
12. Pin bottom closed
13. There are two ways to close the bottom:
    a. Slip stitch (completely invisible, but takes a little time)
    b. Sewing it shut with the machine (slightly visible, but much faster)
    * In the future, I will be either adding a zipper or leaving a folded opening in the back so I can reuse the pillow for each season and just change the cover.

Derek's finished pillow being enjoyed by our cat, Bear.

Next up, Valentine's pillows!