Ironing the Pillowcases

Ironing is important to achieve a professional look.  I have found that only the pillowcases which I've ironed while making them will fold squarely for storage.

I finished the first two pillowcases a couple days ago (click here to see them):

I have shown that turning the hem also forces the pillowcase seam to one side:

By steam pressing this seam to one side along its entire length, the final pressing is neater:

For the final pressing after assembly, I first turn the pillowcase right side out, and poke out the corners with my fingers.  Then I lay the pillowcase on the ironing board with the hem edges matching and the seam to my right.

I start by pressing along the seam, carefully folding along the seam, and press towards the opposite side.  I pull the pillowcase towards me and iron the next section, and so forth, until I get to the seam on the end opposite the hem.  Starting from the right side, I pull on the seam so that it's folded along the seam, and press it, doing these both for about two inches at a time, until I get to the left side.

Here are the last four pillowcases:

I guess this means I can get back to sewing on my dress, huh?!?  (Click here to see the dress project.)

I Interrupt this Dress with Pillowcases!

Yes, I needed a change of pace - a quick-er pick-er up-per.

I had already bought these fabrics just for making pillowcases - except for the fabric left over from my dress (upper left fabric):

So far, I have finished the white pillowcase liners, shown underneath at the right, and the red print pillowcases.  Since this fabric has printing along one edge, I sewed the pillowcases with the printing at the opposite end from the hem so I could cut off the words:

This is my quick version of pillowcases.  I use the full width of the fabric, preferably in the 42- to 45-inch range.  I always buy 1-1/4 yards of woven cotton fabric for each pillowcase and prewash (washer and dryer) three times before cutting it out.  I cut across one end to even the fabric. The liner fabric is shown here with the big ruler ready for the cut:

First I measure 21" from the trimmed edge:

Then I roll up the fabric, skootch it across the cutting mat, and cut another 21" beyond that, for a total length of 42".

Note: When making pillowcase liners, the second cut is 20" for a total length of 41". This tutorial was originally written before I started to make the outer pillowcases bigger.

Here are all my printed fabrics on the ironing board, ready for the next step:

I used a selvage for the hems of the printed fabrics, but the white fabric had two unfinished selvages.  I serge-finished one edge of the liners for the hem.

The fabrics were folded crossways, which folded each selvage in half.  A pin was placed three inches from the selvage at the cut edge ...

... and at the folded edge:

I used the pins to fold the hem down:

I pinned all along the cut edge:

Here is a pile of pillowcases ready to be stitched:

I stitched them together on the serger, making it a quick project.  I started at the hem, leaving a thread tail:

I stitched down the length of the pillowcase, angled in a bit at the end, and stitched off the fabric.  I then stitched across the end of the pillowcase, crossing the previous stitching at the side, and tapering in at both ends of that stitching.  This tapers in the corners just a little bit.  This is when the printed selvages were cut off:

I used a double-eyed needle to tuck in the thread tails.  At the hem, I weave the needle between the hem and the pillowcase, pointing it towards the fold of the hem, and then out:

Once the needle is in place, I thread the tails into the needle and pull it back out.

When the thread tails are too long, I trim them.

Next, I steam press all the stitching, and then I pin and press the three-inch hem in place:

I stitched the hems in place along the selvage edges using my sewing machine:

Here is the end result:

Two Weeks to New Sheets

My husband recently declared that the thin, high-thread-count, store-bought sheets MUST GO!

When they were originally purchased, they were smooth and silky.  We bought several sets at the flea market, but only two sets are still around.

Perhaps you've seen the type:  400 Thread Count!  600 Thread Count!  Of course, no package states clearly that it's Egyptian cotton, but the implication is there.  Shriveling under a hot iron, set to Cotton, is The Big Clue.  Pilling on the fabric after two or three years is Another Big Clue.

So, pilling of bed sheets is getting a little weird, and DH declares They Must Go!

OK, that leaves us with one very nice set of sheets.  Which we made.  Click on the bed picture to see the bed sheet project (pictures in no particular order):

Click the pillowcase picture to see the pillowcase project:

Anyway, I actually have the fabric for the next set of sheets.  This fabric has been laundered three times, ironed, and cut out.  All I have to do now is assemble the new sheet set:

Since I've almost finished clearing off the cutting table, which is a great place to assemble large pieces of fabric, it shouldn't take me too long to make the navy blue sheet set.

"Shouldn't" being the operative word.

And I was all excited to make a summer dress.

I hope that I will be more "into" the sheet project once the table is totally cleared off.  It's been cleared off before!  How odd that I can't find a picture of the cutting table with nothing on it.

OH!

I guess I'd better tell you why there's a deadline to this project.  The bed sheets get laundered every two weeks.  The red sheets were placed on the bed just yesterday.  The crappy, old sheets are being taken to a thrift store early this week, if not today.  Since we always dress the bed with a different set of sheets, we will be out of sheets in two weeks.

Sewing and Eating

We all know that sewing requires food, the nourishment that gives us the strength to sew, right?

Here's what we had for supper tonight -- pork country-style ribs (which DH grilled with his special sauce), steamed asparagus (topped with butter), and a cherry tomato salad (I found the recipe here).  This is a very Paleo meal (at least to my understanding) because it contains only "real food" -- no grains, no processed carbs, and no chemicals:

Here's a light-weight knit I bought on sale at JA's a couple days ago.  I bought 1.5 yards of this sale fabric, and with 40-percent off (plus tax) it cost me approximately $12.50.  I think that's pretty good!  It will become a top of some sort.  Isn't it pretty?  It will go with all my purple and fuchsia pieces, and maybe even some red or black pieces:

I hope to get back to work on my skirt soon.  You believe me, don't you?  Most recent pictures of the skirt are here.

I also plan to make an actual container to hold the paper napkins that sit on my kitchen counter.  I want to make a short basket based on Debbie Cook's Ikea-style bins.  Look here to see what I mean.  DH doesn't know it yet, but he will help me make this.

If DH want another set of custom sheets like you can see here, we have to find a very good price for extra-wide fabric, which is usually called quilt backing.  I still have to write the tutorial for making sheets, but you can click here to see the instructions that are with the pictures.

As if there weren't enough projects in the planning stage around here, we bought a huge wedge pillow at BB&B (with a coupon, of course!).  It comes with a flimsy pillow cover, but we prefer two pillow cases on all our pillows.  When I get around to making this pillow cover, I will share the instructions.

Good-bye to Winter!

We had three days last week with a low temperature of 30 degrees or less. It was so cold that I can almost run around the block without stopping more than Marco requires. I am so "over" Winter and am glad to have good weather this weekend.

I actually sewed some last week. Aside from mending, I also made two pillowcases. I found two old kitchen towels, and they are being sewn together to create a tote bag. I am in "tote bag" mode, and want to improve my tote bag pattern to make it easier and faster to make.