Pretty Quick Pillow Case www.jillmccloydesigns.com PO Box 1206 Langley, WA 98260 info@jillmccloydesigns.com Pillow cases make terrific projects. They are pretty, practical, quick, easy to make, and may be customized to fit any personality or decor. Make them for men, women, children, teens, and mothers-in-law! They may accent a room or make a contrasting personality statement, but they don t need to match a thing! They are the perfect blank canvas for our favorite machine arts. And, because they are economical with both our time and materials, we can be brave and use them to try out new ideas and practice new techniques. Here are the instructions for a basic pillow case with a few design ideas to inspire you. Materials for one 20" X 29" Pillow Case Pillow case body: 243" X 413", print or solid Decorative band: 14" X 413" 1:" X 43" fabric strip for piping, bias is not necessary : yd. of c" piping cord Sewing thread Sulky 12 wt. Cotton (optional) Decorative thread for machine embroidery Light weight tear away stabilizer for hooped embroidery Supplies Air erasable marker Ruler Template plastic and Sharpie pen (optional) Accessories Piping foot (machine\serger) 2.0 Twin needle, opt. Metallica needle, opt. Pin Tuck foot, opt. Wing needle, size 16, opt. Directions Decorative Band: Starch and press the decorative band. Use an air erasable marker to draw sections as illustrated, pg 2. Draw e" seam allowances along the 14" edges. Draw 1½ seam allowances along the 41e" edges. Draw a line lengthwise through the center. The lengthwise line is the lengthwise fold line. Draw a crosswise line through the center to mark the crosswise fold. There should be four large areas marked, plus the seam allowances. The upper left quarter is the design area. Copy Right 1997 by Jill McCloy 1
The design area, not including seam allowances, is also divided into quarters. Draw a lengthwise line half way between the top seam allowance and the lengthwise fold line. Draw a crosswise line halfway between the left seam allowance and the center fold. The center of the design area is now marked. The seam allowance is the top of the design area and the lengthwise fold is the bottom. Keep this orientation when marking the fabric for machine embroidery. This is important, I embroidered my first design upside down! Embroidery Design Area Design Area Lengthwise Fold Embroidery: This is where the fun begins. Try centering a monogram then plac- Lengthwise Fold ing a design motif on each side of it. Or, how about stitching a row of designs across the entire design area? Try tone on tone for a really elegant look. Follow your machine manufacturers directions for hooping and embroidery techniques. If a design is to be placed on each side of a monogram, remember to mirror the second design. See Illustration, page 1. Center Fold Center Fold Monogram Optional Tucked Frame: If you d like to accent a pretty monogram, trace the frame pattern, on page 5, onto template plastic. Cut the template out. Center template over the design area and trace around it onto the fabric with an air erasable marker. Insert and thread a 2.0 Twin needle. Attach a 3 or 5 Groove Pin Tuck foot. Select a center needle position straight stitch and stitch on the guideline. Use Needle Stop Down for ease in pivoting. Insert and thread a size 16 Wing needle. Use a standard sewing foot. Select an entredeux or other wing needle stitch. Place the side of the foot against the inside of the pin tuck. Stitch around the inside of the frame using the tuck as a guide. Use Needle Stop Down when pivoting. Center and stitch an embroidery design in middle of the tucked frame. If you have an embroidery machine, great you ve finished embellishing this pillow case, (and have probably planned at least a dozen more). If you don t have yours yet, either take a few minutes and go get the machine of your dreams, or try some of the decorative ideas. The frame could also be stitched around a completed embroidery that needs a little something extra. 2
Decorative Ideas: If you don t have an embroidery machine, you could try some heirloom or shadow applique techniques. How about rows of wing needle stitches interspersed with twin needle Pin Tucks and decorative stitches? The extra seam allowance makes it possible to make a few tucks and still have plenty of fabric left for the band. Remember to use stabilizer when doing embroidery or using a wing needle, but not for Twin Needle Pin Tucks. Use a firm, crisp stabilizer such as Pellon Stitch-n-tear for wing needle work, the light weight stabilizers used for hooped embroidery aren t firm enough to support wing needle stitching outside of a hoop. Linear Embroidery Option: Ignore the crosswise fold line. Use the entire area between the top seam allowance and the lengthwise fold line as the design area. Draw a line in the design area that is one inch from and parallel to the 1½" seam allowance. Insert and thread a wing needle and, using stabilizer underneath, select a nice wide wing needle stitch. Stitch on the line. Remove the stabilizer. Insert and thread a 2.0 Twin needle. Attach a 3 or 5 Groove Pin Tuck foot. (A 7-Groove foot and a 1.6 Twin needle would be just fine.) No stabilizer is used when making these twin needle tucks. Use the previous stitching as a guide by placing the side of the foot against the edge of the wing needle stitching and keeping it there while stitching a tuck the length of the decorative band. Use the first tuck as a guide for a second tuck by placing one of the grooves in the bottom of the foot over the stitched tuck and keeping it there while stitching a second tuck. Use an outside groove or the side of the foot to stitch tucks a bit farther apart. Stitch two or three tucks. Don t worry about spacing. Whatever you do is going to look pretty! Insert and thread a standard sewing or embroidery needle. Use a pretty decorative thread. If a print is being used for the body of the pillow case, match your favorite color in the fabric. Select a decorative stitch that complements the printed fabric, or just pick any stitch that appeals if your fabric is a solid. Using stabilizer underneath, stitch next to the last row of pin tucking. Remove the stabilizer. If you ve used a wide stitch, you re finished with the decorative band. If you ve used a narrow decorative stitch, add a few more rows for interest and balance. Odd numbers are generally more pleasing to the eye than even numbers. Piping Piping: Piping is optional, but adds a nice touch. The piping may be stitched with your sewing machine or your serger, whichever machine has a piping foot I use my machine foot to make piping and my serger foot to apply it. Attach a piping foot and thread your machine. Since this piping is not applied around curves it is not necessary to cut it on the bias. Take the piping fabric and place it wrong side up. Place the piping cord in the center of the fabric just as you would put a hot dog (or a tofu dog) in a bun. Fold the fabric over the cord. Place the piping under the foot with the fabric covered cord under the groove of the foot. Keep the piping snugly against the fold. 3
Guide the fabric as you stitch, keeping the raw edges together and the stitching right next to the cording. Changing needle position can make it easier to keep the stitching against the cord. Stitch the length of the piping. Great new notion, The Red Hot Piping Tool from PiecesBeWithYou.com. It is a ruler with a groove on each side that fits snugly over piping cord and allows one to use a rotary cutter to cut perfect ¼" or e" seam allowances on piping. Trim the piping seam to e". Constructing the Pillow Case: Trim the seam allowances on the decorative band to e". Use your serger for construction, or use a seam and overcast stitch on your sewing machine, or overcast all the raw edges before stitching. Fold the decorative band right sides together on the crosswise fold and stitch the raw edges together. Press the seam to one side if sewn on a serger or open if sewn on Wrong Side a sewing machine. Fold the band horizontally, bringing the wrong sides Inside together. Line up the raw edges and Wrong Side press. Set aside. Fold the body of the pillow case right sides together and stitch the side and bottom seams. Overcast the seams if using a sewing machine instead of a serger. Turn the pillow case right sides out and press. Starting at the side seam, pin the piping around the pillow case. Keep the raw edges even. Overlap the ends of the piping. Baste if desired. With the right sides together, slide the decorative band over the pillowcase. Align seams and pin. The piping will be sandwiched between the case and the band. The decorative area will be against the case and not visible while stitching. Use the piping foot to stitch the pieces together. Watch for pins if you are using a serger. If you are using a sewing machine, it is best to overcast all raw edges before stitching. Raw Edges Decrative Band Fold RIGHT SIDE Open out the decorative band and press the seam toward the pillowcase. Optional Picot Edge Embellishment: Attach an overcast foot. Take a look at the foot in the illustration and select the comparable foot for your machine. It is a general construction foot used for overcasting an edge and has a stitch finger that prevents the overcast stitch from drawing up the edge of the fabric. It should have come with your sewing machine. Use Sulky or other decorative thread to wind 4
a bobbin and thread a Metallica needle. The top and bobbin threads need to match for this technique because the bobbin thread will show in the stitch. Use a fine point Sharpie to draw a guideline halfway between the stitch finger and the left side of the opening in the foot. Place the edge of the pillow band under the foot so that the edge of the fabric is aligned with the drawn guideline. Start with a left needle position straight stitch to tie off. Stitch a few straight stitches in left needle position to anchor the thread into the fabric. Stitch Finger Center Guideline Switch to a bridging stitch, width 6.0. Many machines have a similar stitch, if your machine doesn t, try using a three step zig zag stitch, width 6.0. It will be slightly different, but it will still be very pretty. Keep the edge of the fabric lined up half way between the stitch finger and the left edge of the opening in the foot and stitch all the way around the ruffle. Slow down a little. After completing the Picot Edge, switch back to a left needle position straight stitch to tie off. Thank you for purchasing these directions. I hope you enjoy the project. Questions? Contact Jill at www.jillmccloydesigns.com PO Box 1206 Langley, WA 98260 info@jillmccloydesigns.com Monogram Template Pattern 5