Grain Sack Slip Cover

Sunday was a good day.  Ben's family was here to drop his sister off for college and it has been a fun-filled week of family fun time.

Funny story.  Kind of.  Ben's mom met Herbert this morning.  She screamed and jumped up on the couch even though Herbert doesn't live in the living room.  You see, Herbert is our house mouse that eats my measuring cups (not joking) and poops all over my kitchen.  Let's just say, my relationship with Herbert started out a lot friendlier than what it has become.


One of my dear friends also had a house mouse.  His name was not nearly nice as what I named my mouse.  He passed this morning.  It wasn't sad.  This is hopefully a preview to Herbert's fate, but I might be sad.


Sunday morning, we said goodbye to Ben's parents after a week of fun family visiting time, so we've spent the rest of the day recovering from said week of family fun time.  We've slept, we've watched a movie and sometime, somehow, by the Lord's good graces, also ended up being productive.  I don't know about you, but usually when I have a day of recovery, I literally do nothing but sleep, eat and watch movies.  I'm pretty proud of myself.  I became an adult today.


This previously mentioned productivity also means I have a project to share with you.  Hoorah!


I made a slip-cover for one of my old raggedy pillows that somehow made it through college.  I've never made a slip-cover before.  I still hardly know how to sew.  I made it up as I went along and got lucky with the results.  Isn't it pretty?!

Ben gave me an old grain sack for Christmas that he found at my favorite antique shop.  I knew from the moment I laid eyes on it that it was destined for greatness.  Scroll back up, see?  Greatness. 


At the time, I thought I could make a cool stocking out of it (since I had Christmas on the mind), or a pillow, and since I can't hang a stocking all year round, pillow it was.  It's pretty.  I want to look at it all the time.


So, this is my process according to how it worked in my brain.


I started with my grain sack and the pillow I wanted to cover.  You don't have to use a grain sack.  You can use any fabric you like - just make it pretty please.

I then measured the pillow for accuracy because I was trying to be good.  I don't usually like accuracy.  I skip accuracy.  Don't be like me.  It's not smart.


The pillow I wanted to cover is an 18" x 18" square, using a rotary cutter, I cut my fabric for the front 19" x 19" so I would have room to sew about half an inch on all sides assembling the pillow.  I cut the square for the back 20" x 19" because I wanted to leave the middle open like a slip cover.  I then cut that square in half so each side was 10 inches long and 19 inches wide.

 




Fold the edges about half an inch on the 19 inch side of the 10" x 19" rectangle and pin them in place.  Repeat for the second 10"19" piece.  Sew a straight stitch to make a clean edge.

Once both sides of the back are done, pin them to the front side, inside out.  It's important to do this inside out so you can turn the rough edges inside, creating a clean seam.  Sew about a half inch along the pinned lines.

Clip the corners of the pillow while it is still inside out so when you pull it rightside out, the corners will be clean.  Once you've turned your pillow right side out, you can push a pointy object, like the tip of your scissors, into the corners in order to push them completely out.  Stuff your pillow in and Voila!

{Sorry about the disheveled look.  It was no makeup Sunday}

Look!  I made it from scratching and it worked!  I'm so happy with the way my pillow turned out - especially since I was making up the process as I went along.  On another day, I will sew some buttons on the back to keep it from opening, but I've had enough adventure for one night.  Till then, I bid you adieu.