How to sew an envelope pillow cover

We recently got a new couch and decided to cover some pillows to make it a little more comfortable. I bought two pillow forms from IKEA and decided to make some envelope pillow covers. Envelope pillow covers are my favorite - they fit well, look great, and sew up very quickly. :D

This is super easy and should take about a half hour per envelope pillow cover once you get into the swing of things.

Plus, these envelope pillow covers are washable! Yay!

Want to make a zippered pillow cover? I have an instructable for that too!

Step 1: Before you start

Show All Items

Some words of caution:
If you plan to wash this pillow cover, wash the fabric beforehand in the way you normally wash. Otherwise, the unwashed sewn fabric can shrink in a hot wash or dryer later and cause seam rippage.

If you're in a hurry to get started, make sure to at least steam press your fabric.

You'll just need to wash it normally and hang it out to dry later! This will keep your pillow cover in nice shape. :D

Thanks so much for this! When my brother asked if I could do something to cover his throw pillows so they all looked the same, I figured I could since I had done a regular pillow cover before... But I wanted some guidance on how to do the envelope and this was super helpful! Pictured is the first one I completed, it is actually for a smaller pillow than it is on, that is why you can see the pillow inside. My brother thinks they are great, too!

It took a while but I did it ?

Thank you for making this so simple!

Hi Jessy, I love this and I'm going to give it a go....but I'm thinking or recovering a cushion that covers a whole armchair....the cushion is about 4 inches thick and not very squidgy compared with a scatter cushion - how much extra fabric do you think I should allow for a good fit!?

Excellent Easy to understand

Can you help me understand what you do when it's all stitched together? This is my first sewing project! I've got all my cuts (for square) now trying to figure out layout before I sew all together...the panels overlap each other? Like, pinned together on the main panel?

I just made a square one! I had to test out my new sewing machine. :) Nice and easy instructions. Thanks!

im trying to make one

Easy to follow directions. Whipped up a couple of pillows in one evening. I used pillow form in mine. Easy to get in and easy to take off to laundry.

I want to cover my couch cushions, I hope that it will work for that as well. On my leather couch, the seat cushions are getting dirty so I want to make washable covers to put on them

Square cushion covers might work better! You can modify this dog bed pattern to make them. :D<a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Custom-dog-bed/">http://www.instructables.com/id/Custom-dog-bed/</a>Here's a ible showing how to I re-covered my old couch using that method:http://www.instructables.com/id/Vintage-patio-set-into-an-awesome-couch-and-chair/

Thank you very much for helping me, I do not know how to sew so this should be interesting.

You can do it!! It's all straight lines, really. :)Let me know if you get stuck on anything in particular and I'll try to help!

Those look amazing. I think I need new covers for my pillows now!

Thank you for the excellent instructions. So easy to follow and worked perfectly.

This is the first tutorial I found that was clear, thank you!!

Jessie, Thank you for the very good instructions. I had 30 inch European pillows and have been wanting to make cases for them. Your instructions were perfect and I did deduct 1 inch to make the cover tight. It worked perfectly! I didn't have enough fabric for the whole cover so I used blue and white ticking fabric for the back and blue and white buffalo check for the front. My pictures are on my tablet and I am not sure how to get them on here. Sorry. Thanks Again! Karen

Good work...

Turned out perfectly! <a href="http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j115/maximumVW/DSC_0016.jpg"> http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j115/maximumVW/DSC_0016.jpg</a>

Oooooh! I love the print! They look fantastic! :D

I took a long rectangle piece of fabric and just overlapped the selvages and serged down both sides. Your idea is good if you want to add a trim around the edge. I like it, simple and you can slip the cover off for cleaning.

You rock! Thanks!!!

PINK IRON! How very dare you.

It's cute and dangerous! :D

Cool!

I agree with Nacho, quite nice. Question, have you ever tried to simple double the length of the piece of fabric (plus an inch or so) and then just fold it over, eliminating one edge to sew?

I have - but without those side seams it can lack structure and look really frumpy. :) Plus, it can be a lot harder to keep everything pressed and measured throughout the process. :P

Ok, I was looking for your experience in that, which is why I asked instead of stating ;-) IIRC, the fold method was taught me in middle school, during my semester of Home Ec, when we did Gym bags. The heavier material might have helped however in keeping it even. Thanks...

. Very nice.

Thank you sir. :D