Sew An 18 inch Envelope Pillow Cover Tutorial
Sew an 18 inch envelope pillow cover is fairly easy. Pillow covers are an inexpensive way to breathe new life into a room.
If you are a crafter, you probably have some fabric that is just waiting for the right project. I know I am always swayed by pretty fabrics. Lots of them end up in my fabric stash. Or the remnant bin at the fabric store would have plenty of options for you. All you need is half a yard of 45 inch wide fabric to sew an 18 inch pillow cover.
When I recently posted about my summer screened in porch decor ideas I had sewn new pillow covers for my wicker settee. The previous covers had seen better days. Fortunately, I have a stash of fabrics. I love fabric and all it’s potential. I sewed two red envelope pillows covers in less than an hour. This is an easy envelope pillow cover pattern. Start to finish.
I also machine embroidered a saying on some white Oxford cloth for my main pillow cover.
Supplies For An 18 inch Envelope Pillow Cover
- 1/2 yard 45 inch wide fabric (prewashed)
- matching thread
- Ruler or hemming notion
- iron
- sewing machine
- straight stitch presser foot
- edge stitching foot (optional but nice to have)
- 18 inch pillow form
What Size To Cut Fabric For Pillow Forms
This depends on what size your pillow form is. For this tutorial, we will be sewing a pillow cover to fit an 18 inch pillow form which requires 1/2 yard of 45 inch wide fabric.
Cut Fabric
Make sure your fabric is washed first. This way all the shrinkage is taken out of the fabric. Better now than when you need to wash your pillow covers after sewing. You don’t want any surprises. If your fabric is wrinkled, go ahead and iron it. It will make sewing so much easier.
You will be cutting three pieces of fabric. The first piece to cut is an 18 inch square. I don’t allow for seam allowances in a pillow cover because I want my 18 inch pillow form to fill the cover.
- Cut 1 piece 18 x 18 inches square
- Cut 2 pieces 18 inch x 13 inches each
How To Sew An 18 Inch Envelope Pillow Cover
Hem 1 long side of each of the 18 x 13 inch pieces with a 1/2 inch hem folded twice. Fold 1/2 inch. Press then fold up another 1/2 inch. Press. There you have a double folded hem.
Sew the folded hem with wrong side up. I like to use a hemming ruler to press my hem. This little ruler is invaluable. It can be picked up at your local fabric store, inexpensively.
I place the hemming ruler matching the raw edge of my fabric. Then fold the fabric onto the ruler matching how deep I want the hem. In this case, it is 1/2 inch. Then press the fabric onto the ruler. Sliding the ruler down the length of the fabric, pressing as you go. Next fold the hem onto itself. Press again. Now you have a 1/2 inch double fold hem.
Using An Edgestitch Presser Foot
Sew the hem with either a regular presser foot or an edgestitch foot (# 10 for Bernina users). Stitching close to the top edge of the hem. I like to use an edgestitch foot because it automatically follows the hem.There is a little guide that follows the fabric. This is my favorite presser foot. The presser foot allows my stitching to always be straight. No wonky stitches with this presser foot.
Or you could use the blind stitch foot (#5 for Bernina users) which is what I used here. Most sewing machines come with a blind hem presser foot.
Both a blind stitch presser foot and an edge stitch foot have a guide running through the middle of the foot, allowing the hem to be stitched close to the edge of the fabric.
I own a Bernina. The presser feet are on the pricey side but so worth the money. Having the right presser feet makes sewing more enjoyable.
My sewing machine has a variable needle placement.
I can move the needle to the left or right on my sewing machine. Allowing me to get really close to the edge of my hem. If yours doesn’t have this function, please refer to this article on how to sew a straight line. There are some really useful tips.
Lay the Fabric Pieces Together
Place your main fabric piece, face up on your work surface. This is the piece that will be the face of your pillow.
Now lay one of the 18 x 13 inch pieces on top of the main piece, wrong side up. Matching one side.
Now lay the second 18 x 13 inch piece on top of these two pieces. Matching the opposite side. This should give you a six inch overlap to make your envelope flap in the middle.
Pin All Four Sides Of The 18 inch Pillow Cover
Pin all four sides. Don’t skip this step. Fabric tends to shift with the feed dogs. Feed dogs are the moving teeth on the bed of the sewing machine underneath the presser foot. So, pinning helps keep the layers of the fabric together while stitching.
Stitch All Four Sides
Now stitch all four sides using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Turn the pillow over inside out. Get your favorite pillow form and insert into your new pillow cover. That’s it.
Sewing Instructions To Sew an 18 inch Envelope Pillow Cover
- Cut 1 piece of fabric 18 x 18 inches square.
- Cut 2 pieces of fabric 18 x 13 inches each.
- Hem 1 long side of each of the 18 x 13 inch pieces with a 1/2 inch hem folded twice. To do this, fold up 1/2 an inch. Press. Then fold up another 1/2 inch. Press. Sew the folded hem with wrong side up. This allows you to stitch close to the edge of the folded hem.
- Place your main fabric piece,(18 x 18 inches) right side up on your work surface.
- Lay one of the short pieces on top of the main piece, wrong side up. Matching one side. Lay the second short piece on top of these two pieces. Matching this piece to the opposite side.
- Pin all four sides.
- Stitch all four sides using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.
- Turn the pillow cover inside out. Insert a pillow form.
I like to use this method to sew an 18 inch pillow cover since I machine embroider so many of my pillow fronts. This allows me to easily center the embroidered image. Or if you are using a fabric with a particular print you want centered.
The red pillows were sewn the same the way.
These pillow covers are so easy, you’ll find yourself whipping up lots in no time at all!
For more sewing inspiration:
Hi there! I just followed your tutorial and it’s great except you need to double hem the long sides of the envelope pieces not the short sides. Thanks!
Amanda, You are absolutely right. It is the long side to double hem. I will correct that. Thanks so much for trying my tutorial. I hope your pillow covers turned out beautifully.
what size hoop did you use for the embroidery?
Hi Cheli,
I made that pillow with the embroidery on my Brother Quattro 6000D. I used the largest hoop which is 12 inch x 8 inch.
Thank you for this tutorial. I KNOW how to make pillow covers, but when someone recently asked me to make her some, my brain froze…so I went googling and found you. I appreciate it.
Hi Yvonne,
I am so glad this was helpful. I still refer to these instructions when making pillow covers. Thank you for the lovely comment.
I love you pillow and tutorial. Thank you.
I’m curious about the embroidery file or font you used to make your design. Can you give info on that?
Thanks!
Hi Krista,
Unfortunately, the font I used is from a company that isn’t in business anymore. I used Embird software to arrange the font into the saying. I hope this helps.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment!
If I plan to put this cover over an existing covered pillow, should I cut 18.5” square to allow for that?
I am assuming you are covering an 18 inch existing pillow. I haven’t done that. I’ve only used pillow forms but I think that would depend on how thick the fabric is on the pillow. You could always allow for the extra half inch and try it on. Then make any adjustments.
If I plan to put this cover over an existing covered pillow, should I cut 18.5” square to allow for that?
I just made this envelope cover for my 18×18 pillow. It came out really good. Thank you. I do have a question though. How do you cut your pieces from your 1/2 yard of fabric? I bought a yard to make two, but was only able to make one with a 2nd 18×18 and one 13×18 left.
Hi Judy,
I cut the fabric the length of the 45 inch wide fabric. If you cut with the 36 inch side or half yard, you will run short. I hope this helps. So glad to hear your pillow cover came out good. This is my favorite home dec project.
For a 12″ pillow form do you cut the two overlapping pieces 12″ x13″ or smaller, since it’s only 12″ square?
Linda
I would cut each overlap piece 12″ x 10″ for a twelve inch pillow. You may want to even cut the overlapping pieces 12″ x 9″ since it’s a small pillow then you wouldn’t have such a large overlap. I hope this helps.
My youngest son and his family are moving to Georgia in a few months. I’m hunting for a pattern to make 18″x18″ pillow covers for my grandchildren. The pillow covers will include a roughly 8.5″ x 11″ June Tailor Sew-in Colorfast fabric sheet, one on each side of the pillow, with photos of our trip together to Disney World a few months ago. I would love to use your envelope pattern here, but I’m not sure the photo will fit on the backside where the envelope fold is located?
I don’t think it will fit. I would probably look for a pattern that has a full back cover. You definitely want to showcase those precious memories.
Have you ever done a pillow cover with a tee shirt? I a working on a memory tee shirt quilt for a friend and she would like some throw pillows to go with the quilt. The tee-shirts are large enough for the image she wants on the front, however I’m not sure there is enough of the shirt left to do the back. I also plan to use pellon to stabilize the stretch of the shirt, like I do for the quilt, I am open to ideas or suggestions, just worried I will mess them up, and she will have her quilt but no pillows. Thanks in advance for any input 🙂
What a wonderful project for your friend. I haven’t made a pillow cover with a tee shirt. Great idea. I hope someone can give you some suggestions. Wish I could be of more help.
I know this a little late for you Sally but i make a lot of memory bears, memory quilts, and memory pillows. I just use the same interfacing used for the quilt. Should come out just fine.
I noticed the opening in the back is vertical. I guess I assumed since it is called an envelope pillow I figured the opening would be horizontal. Does it matter!
I have sewn it with the opening horizontal but I didn’t like the way it looked when finished. You can sew it that way if you want to. That’s what I love about sewing. There’s so many design choices. Thanks for commenting!!!
I followed your instructions but at the beginning you say cut 3 18 x13 pieces. Which I did but then read on to more instructions and found out two pieces needed to be shorter. I knew that 3 the same size didn’t sound right but cut them anyway. So upon reading further, it said put the shorter pieces down. So what is the exact measurement for the two short pieces? I’m having to adjust those two, then eventually cut them to size again. Thanks
Oh. Never mind my last comment on the two cut pieces. I get it now. I need to cut and piece, a square, not oblong piece. Sorry. And thx
Hope you enjoyed the tutorial. Yes, it is one square that is 18 x 18 inches then two pieces that are 18 x 13 inches. I have added this bit to the tutorial to make it clearer. Thank you.
I just followed your tutorial to make 2 pillow and they came out great! I’m so excited! Your directions were so easy to follow. I cut the pieces 18 1/2″ to make sure the pillow would fit but it actually was a bit too big. Should have trusted your instructions and measurements. The whole project took under 2 hours and I’m a basic sewer. I can’t wait to make more covers. Thank you.
I’m so glad that you liked the tutorial. Making pillow covers is a lot of fun and it gives you lots of options to change up your home decor. Thank you so much for the lovely comment!!!
I am wanting to cover a piece of foam 4” thick that is 18”x18”. This will be used on my deck chair. Should I increase the measurements to allow for the 4” foam?
I really think you need a pattern that calls for boxed corners. That will allow for the 4 inch foam thickness. I hope this helps.
Hi, Carol. I’m a Carol too! Anyway, would your tutorial be appropriate for a pillow made with indoor/outdoor fabric ? I’m asking because the fabric you’ve used seems much thinner than the fabric that I would like to use. Thank you for your help!
Hi Carol, I have used canvas fabric with great results. I hope this helps!
I just made two 18″ pillow covers in black and white checks for my couch tonight. They are the first pillow covers I have ever made and mine are not perfect but I like them. Your instructions were great! I don’t sew a lot so I don’t practice enough to be a really good seamstress. Thank you for your great help!
I’m so glad you found the tutorial helpful. You’re going to be making many more pillow covers. They are fun to make! Thank you for the lovely comment!
If the pillow form is 18×18, shouldn’t the fabric be cut 19×19 or 18.5 x 18.5 for seam allowance!
I like my pillow form to fill out the pillow cover. That’s why I didn’t add any seam allowance. You could add a seam allowance but I like my pillow covers to have a tight fit.
Your instructions are spot on! Thank you!!
I’m so glad!! Thank you for the lovely comment!