Fantastic Thrift Store Score! A Wicked Raven Designs Post

This is a whole bolt of fabric that I scored at a local thrift store for $12.00!   The fabric is of an unknown blend and so I will not be using it to quilt with and instead with part of it I will be making pillow cases.

Pillow cases are pretty easy to do and buying them is so expensive! I had company coming a few years ago and wanted to dress up a room so I went to buy a set of pillow cases and they wanted $17.00 for a set! I just couldn't do it - so I figured out how to make them.

Start with a yard of the fabric you want to use for the bigger part of your pillow case set.  Cut it 25 inches long and 41" wide (for this one it is the width of the fabric without the selvage).

 

 Then sew the side and bottom together (right sides together).

 

Then you will need 9" x41" of your secondary fabric for the pillow case trim. 

You will sew the ends of this part together to make a big fabric circle (see below) and then fold in half and iron it flat.  If you are short of your trim fabric you can make it a single and hem stitch it but after a few washes and a tussle or two  by some boys those edges start to unravel and it makes a mess.  This way the edge lays nicely and doesnt ever have to be trimmed up.  Trust me on this one - voice of unravelled experience here!

Then sew the trim onto the case, it ends up being right side of the trim to wrong side of the case so the seam will be correct and inside the pillow case.  Iron it and put it on a pillow!  Done!

These are really easy and fast - each case is about 20 minutes once you have done it a time or two.

This is next up for another set of cases made with this awesome thrift store score!

Dont be afraid to get that bargain even if you dont quite know what type of fabric it is - this can be used for some outdoor pillows or cushions for that guest futon you have - or send it with a collage student and you wont feel bad about never seeing them again!  Donate one or two to the Million Pillowcase drive at your local fabric store (ours is Sylvias Quilt Depot www.sylviasquiltdepot.com).  There are almost a million things to do with a whole bolt of fabric and when it starts to get blustery like it has been for about a week here at Wicked Raven - crafting keeps me warm too!  Happy crafting!