Hotdog Pillowcase Tutorial Continued...

Ok -- I think I can finish the pillowcase in this post -- YAY!!

You will lay the body of the pillowcase face down (right side) on the top of the banding with the raw edges together. The length of the body will be hanging way down and you will want to grasp it and accordian fold it so that it lays in the middle of the casing.

Should sorta look like this -- You will see the casing, at least half of it anyways since the body of the pillowcase is laying on it. Now you will pull up and over the edge of the casing to the top of the raw edges... this will create the hot dog look -- the body being the hotdog, the banding your condiment, and the casing is the bun... cute huh? sorry for the boobage shot -- was trying to get a different view and boy did i LOL!!!

Now you will pin all these edges together down the entire length, I tend to start in the middle and work my way to each end so that there's no hiccups.... you know what I mean. You should get this look -- your hotdog!!

Now you'll take your hotdogger to the sewing machine and sew about 1/2 inch in from the raw edge....

Now here come the fun part!!! I used flannel for making most of my pillowcases during the retreat becuz of the fun prints that I found and they are super soft. But you can use nearly any type of material for these. My only caution is that when using thicker material this next step is a bit difficult. You have to turn the casing inside out and pull the body out. Using regular cotton material was super easy, but flannel can be a bit fussy. Once it's entirely pulled out -- IRON!! it flat...

You will notice that all your casing and banding edges are inside and out of sight.. YAY!! no more stringies!! At this point if you want to -- it's optional... you can use your embroidery stitches on the machine to add a decorative border stitch to the banding (the solid color) and if you're really creative.. machine embroider someone's name to casing. Yea, I'm not!! LOL

Getting to my favorite part -- the finished part!! YAY!! If you know how to do french seams, then good on ya-- that's what we are fixin to do to finish this pillowcase up -- 2 seams and you're done done done! I told you this was easy. Now with WRONG side together, pin down the edge and bottom. If you need to trim it to get it even -- do this before sewing! I like to trim about a half inch down the edge and bottom to get all edge nice and even before stitching. Once it's pinned, you will stitch a 1/4 inch seam down the side and bottom. Clip corners.

Sorry for the blurry picture, but it's a clipped corner. Now you will turn the pillowcase inside out. You will be looking at the wrong side. PRESS!!! This is soooo important. Be sure to push the edges close to the seam so that when you sew this edge again you will catch all the raw edges inside. I found that ironing this helped to keep it neat. Now back to the machine and sew anywhere from a 1/2 to 5/8 inch seam making sure that you catch all the raw edge inside so that it does not show when it's turned right side out.

Clip all your threads and press again -- making it pretty!! and TAA-DAA!! You have just made the perfect pillowcase with no raw edges and it's super easy. You'll be making up a storm I bet.

If you liked this tutorial, please feel free to leave me a comment. I love reading them. If there are any other tutorials that you would want me to have -- let me know and I will do my best to post them. Knowledge is power!!

Keep Stitching,

Cameo

I'm BACKKKK!!!!

Whew! It's so good to be back and sleeping in my own bed with my pillow and blankies!! Don't you agree?? It doesn't matter where I go, or for how long ... I miss my bed and it's comfortable spots. Seriously, I had a wonderful time at retreat. The ladies that came were all wonderful and a bit on the crazy side!! omg... some were down right a joy to hang out with !!! Winky -- if you read this - you are a HOOT!!

I thought that I took a ton of stuff to work on but evidently I didn't. I finished a small flower quilted wall hanging in minutes it seemed, and put another quilt wall hanging together, and then started the addiction that I only have Lisa to blame for. I made 10!! yes 10!! pillowcases over the course of 4 days. There were soooo simple and easy to do. They are called hot dog pillowcases and don't take but about 15 minutes to sew. And only 3 seams!! I plan on sharing the tutorial with you in this post .. how nice am I?? tell me I need to know....HAHAHAHA!!

I hope to be able to attend more retreats like this in the future... gotta start saving my pennies again. We were out in the boonies (smiles) at a great lodge. The meeting room was wide open and quite nice to sew in. The dorm rooms provided great privacy and was spacious too. The food was DELICIOUS!! It was so great to be able to get up in the morning with breakfast ready to eat, no cooking, cleaning, or worrying about anything but sewing our little fingers off. I don't think that I have laughed my butt off more at my new friends than I have in my whole life. We truly let our hair down and just enjoyed each other's company. I. will. go. again!!

Now on to the tutorial... it's really easy to do -- just remember this little equation for the fabric needed ... You will need a 3 inch band, 9 inches for the casing, and 27 inches for the body of the pillowcase. 3 x 9 = 27... neat huh? I am showing you my godson's present for Christmas with the cut pieces that you will need. The brown print is the body (27 inches), the brown strip (3 inches), and the green print (9 inches) will all make the pillowcase.

From here you will fold the band in half and iron it flat. This will create a nice edged banding for the pillow case and helps break up the 2 prints. Now you will lay it on the green print (casing) with all the raw edges facing in the same direction, doing this will make sure we have no raw edges to deal with.

Now I will have to stop here and make another post for tomorrow since it's photo rich already. Blogspot limits the amount of photo memory sooooo tomorrow will be the finishing part .. I know that you will stay tuned for that.

Keep Stitching,

Cameo

GREAT NEWS!

I know I let my posts slide once again! Smack me upside the head with wet noodles.. LOL

But I have the greatest news to share with you. As most of you know that I have been working at Michaels as seasonal help as a cashier and whatever else they need me to do. Well this Saturday was a demo day and of course I was picked to do it. Really fun, goo-ey fun making snowmen with Snow-Tex product. Anyways, boss man walks by as I was finishing up one of the snowmen and says in a very serious tone, "I need to see you in my office after you are done with that...", no eye contact and he walks to the back of the store. My heart fell. I just knew that I was going to be written up for something stupid that I did or that I was getting the axe. So I am sweating beads as I am trying to prolong the finishing of the snowman. I get back there to the office and timidly knock on the door, boss man still has serious look on his face. And guess what?!?!

I GOT A PROMOTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How awesome is that?!?! I am no longer just a cashier, but a glorified one!! My official title is Front End Supervisor.. I will keep an eye on the registers, be over a few of the cashiers, and keep the front end of the store in order. You guys have no idea how happy this has made me. After being a stay at home mom for 12 yrs and thinking that I would never get a job becuz of the long space of time not being the workforce... my heart just soared. I wore a shit-eating grin all day long afterwards, floating on cloud 9. You laugh -- that's ok!

This weekend, starting on Thursday and ending Sunday, I will be gone to a quilter's retreat. My very first. I am told by some of the veterans that go to them alot that I will have a great time and I must say that I am looking forward to it. Time away from the house, work (which I don't really mind), laundry, cooking... ohh yea!! Just laying around , sewing... and you know that I am taking stitching with me.. laughing and having a good time with some awesome ladies in my quilt guild. We are even going to play Bunkco? (prolly spelled it wrong) ..which I have never played.

I will post after I get home with all the juicy and fun details of the time I had. Maybe even post some pictures of items that I completed... right ... you believe that?? HAHAHA!!

Take care everyone and I'll be back really soon!

Cameo