V and Co: make your house pretty: affordable pillow covers

making this house pretty has been kind of a challenge to me.
first off, we have a super tight budget. i mean who wouldn't be after not having a job for 4 months and living off of what you have right? so when we sold most of our stuff to move across country on the lighter (cheaper) side...well, you end up getting in a house with a lot of empty space.
but because we sold a lot of our stuff, we were able to hold onto that money and once settled for a little bit of time, we used that money to semi furnish the house. oh no, it's still empty, but at least now we have a place to gather that's not on the floor.

our new couch came with these ugly striped pillows. i mean they might be cool for someone else, but for me not so much.
i kind of wanted something happy and colorful, but affordable. so i waited till all the boys went to school and then i piled up katie and we went to our hancock fabrics store and started to search. i found the "outdoor" fabric to be on sale for 40% off. love that. and well if it's suppose to withstand harsh conditions of mother nature...i figured that it would have a good chance of withstanding the harsh conditions of the 4 hooligans i call my kids.

so i bought with the 40% off deal at that moment 1 yard of this fabric originally priced $17.99 yard(i think it's full price again) for $10 something plus tax...lets just call it $12.
the measurement of the width of the bolt is 54" so i was able to make three pillows (2 at the 21" and one smaller one for the chair across the way.
i also used fabric i had for the back. yay for using up some of the stuff you already have!

this is how i made my covers:

first i measured my pillows i wanted to cover. these turned out to be 21" by 21"

-so from my patterned fabric and my back fabric i cut out two squares each measuring at 21" by 21" (yes i know i didn't add seam allowance, but you want your pillow to fully fill out the cover you are making. trust me it looks and fits better.)
-then i placed the right sides together and pinned in place.
-next i sewed around all three sides of the pillow cover

-on the 4th side i sewed only about 3" in from each side (back stitching at the start and stop of the stitch)
-this will make stuffing and closing your pillow easier.

-next i sewed diagonal about 1/4" to 1/2" in so your "ears" aren't so pointy when you turn it inside out.
this is what you end up having.


-turn inside out.
-now take your pillow and fold it in half. (squish it down good)
-and insert your pillow through the opening.
-make sure you adjust the pillow while you are placing it inside. try to put the corners with the corners and flatten out and adjust your pillow once you get it in there.
hand stitch or machine close the bottom opening.

three pillows for $12 bucks...uh $4 bucks a pillow aint bad considering most pottery barn pillows cost at least $36 each. and that my friends is making my house pretty on a budget.


i like the color it gives and i love that i can easily change them out when i tire of them, because they only cost me $4 each to make.

one thing down...a bazillion more to go...
have a great weekend. i have more sewing i've been doing to show you monday. :)