DIY Envelope Pillow Cover Tutorial
This DIY envelope pillow cover tutorial is the easiest way to make a beautiful pillow cover.
I’m teaming up today with some popular bloggers (Shauna from Satori Living, Jennifer from City Farmhouse and Becky from Infarrantly Creative) to show how we took two yards of fabric from Spoonflower and created a project from it.
We each didn’t know what each other was making so it’s been fun to see what the others came up with!
For Valentine’s Day I made an envelope pillow cover and I’ve been wanting to do another one to tweak my tutorial a bit. Today I’ll show you how I mastered it! If I can, so can you 😉
This is the beautiful ikat blue fabric I picked from Spoonflower.
Did you know you can design your own fabric with Spoonflower? Amazing! You should definitely check them out.
I’m in LOVE with this fabric! I want to order more and make more of these pillows for my bonus room.
Instructions:
To make an envelope pillow cover for an 18×18 pillow form:
- Wash and dry your fabric (if it’s a natural fibre fabric) so it doesn’t shrink later on.
- You’ll need to cut two pieces of fabric, cut piece A 18×18 inches.
- Cut piece B 18×26 inches.
- Then cut piece B in half.
- Hem one side of each B piece (the longest side). To hem, fold over 1/2 inch and iron.
6. Then fold over 1/2 inch again and iron. Sew into place.
Now you’ll have two pieces that look like this.
7. Lay one B piece over piece A with fronts facing each other. Pin and sew together.
8. Now lay the last piece over, pin and sew together. You’ll notice it will overlap the first piece by about 5 inches. That’s what you want!
9. This is what it will look like inside out when you’re all done. Iron it, turn it inside out and stuff your pillow form inside.
And here is the finished product!
You can see the envelope enclosure in the photo below. I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out!
Isn’t she lovely?
Why not make your own envelope pillow cover?
Now be sure to check out what my co-hosts did with their two yards of fabric from Spoonflower!
From left to right:
That fabric is gorgeous! Love how you styled your bench- so pretty. Pinning your pillow tutorial as a fabulous resource. Thanks for being part of this 🙂
Thanks for having me, Shauna!
Hugs,
Jamie
How AMAZING are you creating a printable!!! Love it Jamie! So nice to hang with you today!!! Will share on FB today! Already pinned a few x’s. so pretty! Jen
Thanks so much, Jen 😉
Hugs,
Jamie
The fabric is gorgeous! I’ve been super into blue lately. Have a great rest of the week!
Angela @ Number Fifty-Three
Thanks Angela! I love your blue projects 😉
Hugs,
Jamie
Really great fabric! I’d love for you to link it up this week to the Be. You. Tiful Link party going live on Thursday at 6pm PST. I’ve been stalking your blog for awhile now! In a non creepy way, I promise. I’d love to team up and work on some projects together if you are interested:) Pinning this Pillow 🙂
haha, too funny 😉 Love your blog too 😉
Hugs,
Jamie
So pritty, want it 🙂 Love how you styled your bench, great colors
What seam allowance did you use? Was it 3/8″?
I’m not sure, Anne. I usually eyeball about a half inch.
Jamie
Hi, I am a novice at sewing so I have a question about the envelope cover. When you say cut piece B in half, which side? The long or short?
Also, my pillow is 23 X 23 so do I add 8″ to piece B for the long side?
Thanks
HI Cindy,
Sorry for the confusion. If piece B is lying down with 18″ at the top (width) and 26″ at the sides (length or height), you would cut it in half horizontally right in the middle. And yes you’d add 8″ to the B piece. Essentially that’s the side that will be overlapping to make the opening in the pillow.
Good luck!
Hugs, Jamie
I love the look of this pillow. Very feminine and classy. Thanks for posting!
Simply great tutorial with detailed instruction in images. Thanks Jamie for sharing this tutorial. I have basic knowledge of sewing. Hope I can be able to make this too.
These look so fun, definitely need to try to make some!
Great tutorial! These pillow covers easy to make by following your tutorial. I will definitely make these. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Amanda!
Hugs, Jamie
Thanks for this great tutorial … just what I was looking for! I am a little confused though … if you are cutting the fabric 18″, and then sewing seams, how can it fit an 18″ pillow? Is it a typo, or have I just not had enough coffee this morning? 🙂
Hi Trish!
I had to doublecheck this too 😉 You want it the same size so the pillow will squish into the pillow cover or else there’s too much space and it doesn’t push up. I found this to make a nice fluffy pillow.
Hugs, Jamie
I’m confused. It says cut the 18×24 piece in half, but then in the instructions it says to use the larger piece??? What am I missing?
Hi Bethany,
Thanks for pointing this out! When I did a similar tutorial for my book, I remembered this blog tutorial and quickly changed one part of it. I forgot to change the part in the middle of the post where it says larger piece in brackets. It used to say cut that piece in two-thirds which was kinda confusing so I changed it to half. I forgot to change it further down 😉
Hugs, Jamie
Thanks for the reply. I went ahead and cut it in half and it came out great! Such a quick, easy project and now my best friend’s baby quilt has a matching pillow. Thanks for this tutorial!
I’m so glad it worked out for you, Bethany! I’m sure your best friend loved something homemade from you.
Hugs, Jamie
Nice tutorial. I couldn’t remember how much to over lap the back. Funny thing is I am using one of my Spoonflower designs for the front.
That’s too funny, Kathy! Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs, Jamie
I can not wait to try this DIY tutorial.
Thanks Kate!
Hugs, Jamie
Hi
When you cut piece B in half does each piece become 18×13 or 9×26? Can you email me back?
Thanks… beautiful pillow!
Ro
Hi Ro,
B is 18×13! I have similar post on how to make a pillow here: https://somuchbetterwithage.com/change-decorative-pillow-covers-seasonally/
Hugs, Jamie
can you give directions for a circular pillow?
I’ll have to create one! I’m sure you could make one following my directions and curving the corners?
I love your fabric. I make envelope pillow covers, but I cut one rectangular length. Hem the short ends; fold right sides together to match the size of the pillow overlapping the short ends, and then just sew up the sides. Done.
Great, easy tutorial! Love the fabric!
Thanks Alison! I should mention I have more photos for the tutorial in this post now: https://somuchbetterwithage.com/change-decorative-pillow-covers-seasonally/
Hugs, Jamie
The fabric is fabulous! I like the way you decorate your bench.
What is the total amount of material you need to buy for the 18×18 pillow.?
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I just made two of your envelope pillows! Easy to follow instructions!
I would like to make matching lumbar pillows 13 x 20! What size would I need to cut my fabric, please?
I have made several of these pillows. I always add a sentiment note on the inside of one of the backs. Something simple like:
Made especially for
Their name
Christmas, 2021
My name
Hi Carole,
Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond. Thank you for sharing! What an amazing gift you’ve made!!
Hugs, Jamie