No-Sew Pillow Cover Tutorial

Let me give you some unsolicited advice: if you have children, especially young children who like Oreos and "cha-ba-bip" cookies, it may be wise to avoid silk fabrics in your living space.  I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking when I got the brown and blue striped silk pillow from Target for my living room.  Because in record time, my children destroyed it.  Awesome. I have tons of fabric on hand and I am still afraid to use my new mini sewing machine, so I got out my trusty seam tape and decided to recover the pillow.  Non-sewers unite.  It was easy and it looks great.  Here's the deal: you'll need permanent fusible seam tape, fabric, scissors and a template (the pillow cover formerly on the pillow) and an iron.

First, take your pillow cover off. This will be your template.  Place it on top of your fabric and cut around it - make about a half inch border of fabric around the old pillow cover (by the way, see the stains? I told you ...).

Next, turn the fabric so that the back-sides are facing out and the print is on the inside.  Place your fusible tape along the outside edge between the two layers and iron away.  I usually hold it for about 5 seconds, then move down the edge to create a nice strong hold. 

Here is your hem!  Doesn't it look good?  Repeat on the other two sides.

The last side is not easy: I won't lie.  If you're doing the no-sew method, you'll have to stuff your pillow and iron the tape on with the pillow in the fabric.  What I did was stuff in the pillow and then fold it over itself so I had a little room to iron the fabric.  Next time, I will use pins to hold the fabric in place and remove them as I iron.  My last seam got a little wonky, but I doubt anyone would notice it unless she was specifically looking for it.

And here's the finished product!  Here is my new cute pillow on my couch and on the entry bench. Look at how versatile it is!

Is it abundantly clear how much I love the no-sew fusible hem tape?   I'm going to get brave eventually and use my little sewing machine.  But for now, the tape works.  I even helped my good friend Heather make no-sew valences for her son's bedroom this past weekend. Stay tuned for pix and a tutorial very soon!

Have you used the no-sew method? Please share if you have! I love hearing about the magic of this product.

See you swoon,