I recently painted an old storage bench and placed it at the end of the bed in my guest room (to match my beautiful refinished curio cabinet). The bench came with a foam pillow for the top to make it more comfortable to sit upon. The foam form needed a new cushion cover so I decided a quick and easy envelope pillow cover was the perfect solution.

To be honest, I had not done a sewing project of any kind in a while. The very simple envelope pillow cover had me feeling confident in my crafting ability once again in just a few short steps.

1. Measure your pillow form.

My form did not have a tag, but if yours does, simply use the measurements on your pillow form. My form measured 13.25” wide and 28.75” long.

2. Calculate how much fabric to cut.

This formula will work for any envelope pillow cover project.

Width: add one inch to accommodate the seam allowance. 13.25” + 1” = 14.25”

Length: multiply the length by 2 to accommodate the front and back of the pillow then add 6” for seam allowance and the envelope overlap. 28.75” x 2 + 6” = 63.5”

3. Measure and cut your fabric.

I used my rotary cutter, mat and ruler to cut my fabric to the final measurements of 14.25” wide and 63.5” long.

4. Double hem the width.

Lay fabric print side down, fold each edge in ¼ inch, pin and press, then fold over again ¼ inch, press and sew. By double hemming you will hide any unfinished edges.

5. Sew the side seams.

Lay fabric print side up, fold the left hemmed width side in about halfway, fold the right hemmed width side in so it overlaps the first side. I folded my left side in 14.25” and then my right side in 19.5”. This overlap in fabric is what creates the envelope opening! Once you have folded each side flat, smooth fabric by hand, pin top and bottom edges on both sides and sew each side with a ½” seam allowance.

6. Turn your pillowcase right-side out, and insert your pillow form.

So (sew) simple! This pretty project took me about 20 minutes to complete. Nothing left to do now besides enjoy my new envelope pillow cover. Oh, and look forward to my next guest’s visit.