Color-It-Yourself Lover Pillowcase

(Photo by John Samora)

Here is a project from my new book, Crafty Chica's Guide to Artful Sewing: Fabu-Low-Sew Projects for the Everyday Crafter.

This is one of my all-time favorite projects because it is very clever (or at least I think so)!

What we are doing is making a pillowcase from scratch. Don't shoo me away just yet - read on, please! Think about it - we are only sewing a rectangle. You can handle that. Pillowcases are a fast and fun way to use up excess fabric and give your bedding some customized design. But these are not just any pillowcases - these are pillowcases that you will stitch on an outline and then color in with markers (Crafty Chica markers, of course!).

Here are the general directions below - you'll need to check out the book for the complete blow-by-blow.

You'll start with a large piece of white cotton fabric and fold it in half to the size of your pillow - a little bigger. Use a disappearing ink pen and draw/trace your heart pattern on one side of the pillowcase (the book comes with the template of the sacred heart shown in picture).

Use a tight zig zag to stitch around the design. Think of it as a coloring book, and you are sewing on the outline. If you don't want to machine sew, you can embroider the design.

Once you have that, color the design in with the markers.

Now fold in half and sew. The book has much more detailed instructions, like the exact measurements and how to add a cute border cuff. You can use this technique for other kinds of fabric projects too, like toss pillows, skirts, jackets, totes, etc.
Peace, love, and glitter!
Kathy :-)

P.S. Check out my new book and product line!