I found two more adorable retro-themed cottons, and decided that I needed some fresh pillowcases to decorate my crafting space. Unlike my last go-around with the <retro pillowcases> I wanted to keep the directional pattern aligned when the pillows were at a normal horizontal angle. This required careful calculations since I still only had 1 yard of each fabric, but I determined it was possible if I was creative with the width of the cuff.
Best saying on the black fabric: "I have heels higher than your standards."
The cuffs would have to be extra wide, almost colorblock in scale, but since I was using a contrast fabric for them, I was confident that they would work out. If you want to make your own pillowcases I recommend 2 coordinating prints of 45 inch wide fabric. It only takes 1 yard of each!
After washing and ironing the fabric I got to work cutting my fabric. The dimensions needed are [YxY, ZxZ and ZxZ]. Now it's time to start sewing, and the first thing I did was to French seam the cuff to the case. If you've never done a French seam before they can feel really weird. The idea is to encase the raw edges inside of the seam, and the first thing you do is sew wrong side to wrong side - usually with a very narrow seam allowance. Yes, you read that correctly, sew wrong to wrong so that your stitching shows on the OUTSIDE of your fabric (for now), just like in the picture below.
Sew those wrong sides together - see how my pins are sticking out and my fabric is showing?
The next step is to trim the seam allowance, usually to a scant 1/4 inch to ensure that your edges are completely encased in the following seam.
I sewed this at about 3/8 inch, but that was still too wide, so I made sure to trim it down. I also had some uneven edges from where it was cut at the store, so this was a good opportunity to take care of that.
You now need to iron that seam open so that you can then fold it over from the other side.
A straight seam line and a good press will make or break your French Seam.
Now fold it the normal Right side to Right side along that seam and stitch.
Voila! Your French seam is complete, and your seam is fully encased. Marvel at that beauty!
Now do the same thing to the cuff on the other end of the pillowcase.
This leaves you with one extra long piece of fabric that you can essentially treat as a singular rectangle for the rest of this project. Fold your rectangle in half, matching raw edges - especially the seams where the cuff meet the case. It should be folded "hamburger" rather than "hot dog" style, and generally be shaped like a pillowcase. Right side to Right side. Pin and stitch along the 2 long edges of the rectangle, from the fold to the cuff.
To finish the edge and prevent it from fraying run a zigzag stitch along the edge after you've sewn it down.
Before turning the pillowcase right-side out cut a triangle like this out of the corner. It will make the corner much pointer when you turn it because there it less fabric bunching underneath.
In the home stretch! These pillowcases just need to be hemmed. Since the cuff was so wide, I was unable to fold the cuff fabric all the way back to the seam that joined them to the case. However, I was able to fold the fabric over twice and hem it just like any other project.
Now, that's all that's *necessary* to create pillowcases, but I still wanted a little more pizzazz. The black fabric had a subtle half-circle pattern in the background, and I had some coordinating pink thread, so I decided to use one of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine to create an additional design detail on the hem. Not wanting to leave the other pillowcase out, but recognizing that the pink likely wouldn't show up, I used the same stitch in black on the other fabric.
The finished pillowcases stacked on top of each other with their decorative borders.
Challenge: n/a
Material: Cotton
Pattern: Self-Drafted
Year: 2022
Notions: Thread
How historically accurate is it? n/a
Hours to Complete: 4:15 hours
First Worn: n/a
Total Cost: $10.38(fabric) + thread (stash) + tax = 11.50
Audiobook: The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh