Finished size 12 x 16 inches (I squeezed a 14 x 16 pillow form into it to give it an extra plump appearance) :)
Supplies:
6 different charm squares for border(I used 12 for even more variety--this gave extra 2.5 inch squares to use in another project)
4 different charm squares for appliqued letters and penguin
thread
sewing machine or hand sewing needle
1/2 yard white fabric (I used Kona) cut into 2 16.5 inch squares and 1 8.5 x 12.5 inch rectangle.
Cricut die cutting machine and cartridges (I used Cuttin' Up Font and Joys of the Season)
Any decorative items you want to jazz up your pillowcase such as embroidery floss, buttons, charms etc...
Note: All seems are 1/4 inch
Lets get started...
For the border of your pillow cover, cut the border charm squares in half and arrange in a pleasing manner like this...
(I alternated between 3 different colors, red, green and blue.)
You will need to sew 8 halves together and 4 halves together. Once they are sewn together you will want to rotary cut the sewn strips in half length-wise like this...
You should have 2 sets of 8 squares and 2 sets of 4 squares like this...
The next step is to sew the two short strips to the short sides of an 8.5 x 12.5 piece of white fabric. Press seems toward the borders. Now sew the long strips to the long sides of the sewn rectangle and again press seems toward borders. This is what it should look like...
Now, fuse the paper backed fusible webbing to the backsides of 4 charm squares following the manufacturers directions. Once you have the squares backed with the paper, decide what colors you want your letters to be. I drew it out in colored markers on a blank piece of paper 1st and decided to alternated the colors every 3 like I did in the border.
Place your 1st square onto the mat and load into the Cricut machine. Choose what letters you want. For example, when I put in the green square I chose a capital M (2 inches) and cut then I chose a lowercase r, h, s, and a (all 1.5 inches) then cut. Note: I used a new blade and had it set at 5 with the machine at a medium speed and high pressure)
Now, cut out the rest of your letters in the same manner. If you want to add an image like the penguin I used, select the image you want to cut and cut it out at 3.5 inches.
Once you have the letters and image cut you will have to gently peel them off. You may need to use a blade to help because the Cricut probably didn't cut your fabric thoroughly. Once cut out arrange the letters on your block and press with the iron to fuse them. It should look something like this...
Now is the time to add any decorative items. The only thing I had to do was stitch the eyes on the penguin (2 french knots)
You now have the front of the pillowcase complete! Yea, you're almost done!!
The next thing you need to do is sew the back of the pillowcase. Start by taking your 2 16.5 inch square back fabrics and press one of the long sides under on each of them (1/4 inch then 1/4 inch again) to make a sort of hem. Once pressed, sew close to the inner edge of the hem. like this...
Now that you have both back fabrics hemmed, overlap them by 3.5 inches and pin in place. They should both be wrong sides up. Note: I pinned them with both fabrics right side up. This worked, however, my pins were on the inside of the pillow case when I was finished, which I then had to get out and in doing so poked my self. ouch!
Your next step is to pin the back of the pillowcase to the front right sides together and sew all the way around. Once you've sewn all around you will want to clip the corners a bit and you may want to either serge or zigzag stitch the seam. (This make it a little more durable.)
The last thing you need to do is turn right side out and stuff your pillow inside. You now have a great little Christmas pillow to grace your sofa or give as a gift...
...enjoy!
I hope you are having a great day!
