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Sewing Bee Fabrics Tutorial
How To Sew A Pillowcase With French Seams
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I made this pillowcase as I needed to make a quick present which looked professional and still had a wow factor. This pillowcase tutorial shows how I made it.
What You Will Need:
Cotton -Â 2 Pieces of fabric - 50cm x 75cm & 50cm x 87cm
I used Elizabeth's studio's Enchanted Waters
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How To Make It:
First, you need to hem one short end on both your fabric pieces. Do this by folding under about 1/2cm-1cm then folding again so the raw edge is hidden on the inside. Press in place with an iron and pop a couple of pins in it so it won't move around under the sewing machine.
Next, put your fabric pieces on top of each other so the patterns face right side out and line up the short edges at one end.
Sew a quarter inch seam down the non-hemmed short edges. I used a quarter inch quilting foot as my guide. Check out our tutorial if you want more help in getting perfect quarter inch seams.
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Trim down your seam allowance to about half. You don't want to try sewing such a tiny seam instead because your sewing machine will just keep on trying to eat the edge as it gets caught in the feed dogs underneath and you'll end up with a birds nest of thread to unpick. This is a much less frustrating way to sew a French seam!
Now flip the fabric so it is inside out. This is where your sewing accuracy for your French seam makes all the difference. If you're wonky, when you turn your fabric, the edges of your pillowcase won't easily line up.
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Sew your quarter inch seam again, this time with your fabric inside out.
Fold the excess length inside on the longer cotton piece. This will be the part you tuck around the pillow inside. Now comes the 2 long edges for your pillowcase. You need to do exactly the same thing as you did for the short edge. Sew quarter inch seams down the 2 long edges with the fabric facing right side out.
Trim the edges.
Then turn your pillowcase inside out and repeat your quarter inch seam
Then your pillowcase is finished. How neat do those French seams look on the inside?!
All that's left to do now is find a nice fluffy pillow to put inside.
We hope you enjoy our tutorials and love hearing what you think so if you enjoyed this pillowcase tutorial or are planning on having a go at making one yourself then please leave us a comment or send me an email to linda@sewingbeefabrics.co.uk
Happy Sewing!
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Great tutorial and the pillowcase looks very nice! The French seams really give it a professional look!
Thank you Linda. That’s very kind of you. French seams make pillowcases feel so much more luxurious than overlocked edges don’t they! 🙂