A Little Slice of Life: Roll It Up Pillowcase

"Roll It Up" Pillowcase

I was super excited to try my latest sewing project. After pinning several different sewing projects on Pinterest, I decided I really wanted to try making a pillowcase. I started out thinking I'd make a travel size pillow for the little guy, but I went ahead and did a regular size pillowcase. Sam adored a Thomas the Train flannel fabric when we were shopping at the fabric store, so I purchased it and got started a few days later. It came out so much better than I was expecting, even with its imperfections that I know are there. What I loved most about the tutorial I used is that it has a great video to go with it! The video doesn't take you through the entire project, but it shows enough to get you about 3/4 of the way through. I took a few pictures along the way, but the video and pdf tutorials are much better at telling you how to make the pillowcase. One of my favorite things about this actual pillowcase is that there are no exposed edges, which gives it a nice, finished look.

Materials:
12" x 42" fabric for band of pillowcase
24" x "42" fabric for pillowcase body
iron
sewing machine
I will admit that my measurements weren't exact this first time around and one of my fabrics only measured about 41". Because of that, I just trimmed both to match the 41"...it was no problem at all!

1. Place your band fabric right side up on your work space. Place pillowcase body fabric right side down, matching up your long sides at the top.

Once you have it lined up, it should look like this:

2. Now you're going to do the roll-up part of the project. Starting at the bottom of the fabric, roll up the body piece of fabric until you see about half of your band fabric.

3. Leave your "roll" sit there. Now bring the bottom of the band fabric up to the upper/top raw edge.

4. Pin the entire top edge in place. You should have three pieces of fabric that you are pinning together to make a little pocket/tube with your fabric. Be sure you do not pin the rolled up portion. It should remain a roll inside of your new tube of fabric.

5. Sew your pinned edges together with a 1/2" seam allowance, again making sure not to sew your inner "roll."

6. Invert your fabric by pulling your "body" fabric out from the tube. You'll be turning the pillowcase band right side out making the pillowcase body. Unroll the entire pillowcase. All seam allowances should be encased within the pillowcase band. So pretty!

7. With your iron, press the band with seam allowances going toward the band. You may have to pull it a little bit to make sure it's pretty flat and taught. Turn over and repeat, pressing the back side.

8. To finish the pillowcase, finish it with French seams. In doing it this way, all of your edges will be finished and won't be exposed at all. It gives this pillowcase a really nice, clean look when you're all done. Use the pdf tutorial if you need help learning the French stitch. That is what I used to learn, and it worked out perfectly!