Pillow Slip Cover Tutorial...

Before I begin, I'd like to make something aware to anyone reading this: Sewing is not one of my talents.  Yes, I can sew a strait line, however, I couldn't tell you what to do to adjust your tension, or change stitches on your machine; I have never been able to follow a pattern without the help of my mother or sister, and anything that requires a ton of detail work, forget about it.  My knowledge of sewing is as basic as it gets.  I know how to refill my bobbin.  {Yay!}  And as for patterns, I generally see something and think "I can make that" and then I make things up as I go.  This particular slip cover isn't some brilliant thought-up idea, this is how all of the shams I've ever bought work, so I figured I could recreate my own slip covers.  So that should give you a good idea of how simple a slip cover truly is to make.  It's an honest statement when I say: "If I can make this, you can too!"  I'm not very good at explaining things either, so I took lots of pictures so that hopefully I don't confuse you too much.  It really is simple, promise.  So lets begin...

First you'll want to start out by measuring your pillow form, from seam to seam.  You can use this simple slip cover tutorial for any square or rectangle pillow you've got.  Start with a square shape if this is your first go... anyway, after you've measured your pillow, it's time to cut out your fabric:

My particular pillow measured 17x17 inches from seam edge to seam edge, so I cut out an 18x18 inch square (adding an extra inch for seam allowance.)  The two back pieces are easy too, I knew I wanted the two pieces to overlap each other so there was no gap exposing the pillow once it was stuffed into the cover, so I took my 18" measurement, cut it in half (9"), then added two inches (making it 11") to allow room for seam allowance and some 'overlap'... I cut two of these measurements.  Still with me?  That's the hardest part, so if you have your cuts ready, the rest is a breeze and you'll be done in no time!

Take your front square piece and embellish as desired, ruffles, buttons, whatever your heart fancies, or if you already have a gorgeous fabric, leave it as is!  :)   I simply painted the word "love" on mine with some acrylic paint...

Now lets go back to your two back pieces... take one of your longer edges, and fold it in. about a half an inch or so, and then fold it in again and press it flat with a hot iron (this makes it easier to sew it up)

 After you have it pressed, run it through your sewing machine along the inner edge...

 Now you have a nice edge that won't fray (the other three edges will be sewn up into the pillow, so don't worry about those)  Repeat with your second back piece.

 Now, take your two hemmed back pieces and place them over your front piece (right sides together, because you'll be turning this right-side-out.)  Make sure your hem is towards the middle of the pillow and not along an outer edge...

 The two pieces should overlap in the center, but line up with all four outer edges...

 Pin that all together, and run it through your sewing machine, making sure all sides are closed.  After sewing, I like to trim off the corners (making sure to avoid cutting off the new stitching) so that the corners are more crisp when you flip it inside out...

 You're finished!  Now just turn that bad boy inside out, and stuff your pillow in...

 TADAAA!  I love making slipcovers this way, because it makes it easier to switch out my pillows when the seasons change, or I simply start getting bored with them.  And storing a slip cover is a lot easier than storing lots of pillows too.  :)

 For the "be mine" I just printed the words off on my computer, taped it up on my window and traced it onto the fabric, then filled it in with paint.  :)

 And if you're interested, here are the paints I used:

Thanks for stopping by!  Hopefully I made sense to everyone, but if you do have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!  :)