Envelope pillow how-to

We had a weekend of beautiful weather here in Halifax! Adam and I made our weekly trek to the Seaport Market for coffee and German pastries, got on some serious yard work (more on that later), enjoyed some deliciously-rich French food with friends at Le Coq, and took the dog for walks along the waterfront and by the heart-shaped pond at Hemlock Ravine.

And on Sunday, after planing a door frame in our basement and baking cranberry-lemon muffins (I do it all, folks), I turned my pretty new fabric into pillows for our bedroom.

I don't have the sewing skills for invisible zippers, so I went with a simple envelope pillow. Read on for the how-to, or just scroll to the bottom of this post for more pretty pillow pictures!

Envelope Pillow How-To:

1. Start by measuring your pillow insert. Cut your front piece to size, making sure to add an inch on either side for your hems. I had two, 20x21-inch down pillow inserts on hand, so I cut two, 21x22-inch panels.

To save money, I used less expensive fabric for the backs of the pillows. I was lucky to find a lovely neutral at Fabricville marked down to $4/metre!

2. To create your "envelope", you'll need to cut two back panels for each pillow. The width is the same as your front panel, but divide the insert's height in half and add two inches to each panel (4 inches for the back piece overall) for hems and overlap. Because I was making two pillows, I cut four back panels. Each panel was 21-inches wide (just like the front) and 13-inches high (22/2 = 11+2 = 13).

3. Next, pin, iron and sew the hem on your back panels.

Optional: If you're me, now realize you measured your hems incorrectly so your back panels are too short. Silently curse yourself, take a short ice cream break, then rip out all four hems, measure correctly and re-pin, re-iron and re-sew.

You should feel free to skip this step :)

4. Pin your front and back panels together and sew.

5. Step back and enjoy your good work!