The modern rhythm of life takes up more and more free time. Career growth, family and occasional outings with friends. What can we say about a hobby or business for the soul. All the things that are only necessary for life are available on the shelves, and if they are not there, then online stores can always help out.
But even in stores, not everything can be liked. For example, take bed linen. Wrong color or wrong material. Or you just need one extra pillowcase. How then to proceed in this case? It's simple - you need to sew the pillowcase you need with your own hands. This will be an easy and quick way to solve the problem.
Pillow sizes
Many people remember how they came to their grandmother in the village and slept all summer on large pillows, the size of which was almost the entire length of the body. These were pillows measuring 70 by 70 cm - a common size in Soviet space. Every house, every apartment had such pillows. Someone still has them. It is this size that has become a kind of standard for pillowcases that go in bedding sets for double and single beds.
Square pillows are also popular. They have dimensions of 40 by 40 cm, 50 by 50 cm, 60 by 60 cm. The latter is the most popular and often found in bedding sets. Smaller square cushions have decorative functions, they are created to dilute the interior. They are not suitable for sleeping, since it is almost impossible to sleep on them.
With the European-style influx, oblong rectangular pillows for sleeping became in demand. For some, this option is the most convenient, with sizes 50 by 70 cm for adults and 40 by 60 cm for children. These pillows have begun to gain more and more space on the bed. Pillowcases for pillows 50 by 70 cm are divided into several types:
- with a smell from above;
- with a scent on the side;
- With ears;
- With smell and ears;
- With ears and back zip.
Pillowcase with ears
Pillowcase with ears is a more popular name. But not many people know that in fact they are correctly called "Oxford". These are simple rectangular pillowcases measuring 50 by 70 cm and with a border around the edging. This border has a decorative character. The pillow is inserted from the back. It is not known for certain where the fashion for these pillowcases came from. According to historians, they were used as far back as Ancient Egypt.
Simple pillowcases have never carried any excess and wealth. They were easy to use and too boring. That is why such "Oxford" pillowcases were invented, with seams outward, with lace and borders. The width of the border depends on what functions the pillow will perform: decorative or it will be a pillow for sleeping. Usually their width does not exceed 15 cm.
If the pillow is intended for sleeping, then the edging should be flat, without frills and trim, for the convenience of sleeping. The decorative pillowcase can be wavy, with appliqué or trimmed with lace. Since the border completely wraps around the pillowcase, hiding all the cushion slots behind it, the hole is made in the back for convenience. This will prevent the edging from rubbing or deforming.
Choice of fabric
Before you sew something yourself, you always need to choose the material first. The choice of fabric comes first.
Of course, you should give preference to those fabrics that are easy to use or just like you. For example, silk. Soft and delicate silk is very pleasant to the body, has the unique property of not "collecting" dust. It is strong because it consists of natural fibers. There is a claim that silk has beneficial properties. Its downside is that silk is very wrinkled and belongs to a number of expensive fabrics.
Other natural fabrics are chintz, satin and calico. They are durable and easy to use, with frequent washing they do not lose their qualities, especially coarse calico, which does not change its size. They do not accumulate static electricity, which is very important in the hot season - you will not sweat much from a coarse calico pillowcase, since coarse calico absorbs sweat and moisture well. In the morning, there will be no depression on the face.
An inexpensive option would be chintz, which itself, at its cost, is the most budgetary option. It is a lightweight and soft fabric. It is suitable for sewing and sewing bed linen on your own, since the edges do not crumble during work, and does not stretch to weave. One of the downsides is that chintz is not a durable fabric, after ten washes the fabric will begin to lose color, and after subsequent washes it will become less durable and may begin to tear.
Satin is no less in demand among the selection of fabrics for sewing. Durable, natural, soft and delicate fabric. For its external qualities, this material can be attributed to expensive types of fabric and they are often replaced by silk underwear, since this option is cheaper in cost. It lasts a long time during operation, is not afraid of a large number of washes.
Sewing
There are two ways to sew a pillowcase with ears - with and without wrap. A wrap-around pillowcase itself is more complex and time consuming, and will take much more time and fabric. But such a pillowcase will look great in a sleeping place. The odorless pillowcase is easier to design, but it also does not lose its charm. To sew it, you will need to correctly calculate the required amount of fabric.
The calculations for pillowcases with and without a smell will be slightly different, since you need to leave a certain amount of fabric for the smell, you do not need to leave anything on an odorless pillowcase. Consider the option of sewing on a standard pillow measuring 50 by 70 cm. First, it is worth deciding what the width of the ears will be and what character the pillow will have (decorative or pillow for sleeping). For sleep, a border from 5 to 7 cm is usually chosen.
An approximate calculation formula
Seam attacks + eyelet + pillow width + eyelet + seam attacks - all equal to the width to be marked on the fabric. For length, the formula is exactly the same, except that length is used instead of width. After all the calculations, you can start sewing.
Tip: before starting work, the fabric must be washed so that it shrinks. After all, if you first sew a pillowcase and only then wash it, there is a risk that it will sit down and not be put on the pillow.
Next, having marked all the necessary dimensions on the fabric, cut out a rectangle with the desired width and length. In order to insert the pillow, from two canvases we choose what will be the back, and make a cut at the required height. We process it with an overlock, then sew in a zipper. We fasten two canvases with safety pins and iron the edges, but not strongly. After the edges have been ironed, turn the fabric right side out. And again we pin off the edges with pins, and then we sweep the canvases to each other.
On the resulting version, we measure the size of our pillow - 50 by 70 cm, and the remaining length will go to the ears. We sew the resulting markup on a typewriter. The pillowcase is ready. It remains only to insert the pillow. The difference between a pillowcase with a smell is that the ears will be either only on three sides, or a small piece of fabric will be sewn on the fourth ruche, which will be the smell. The border itself will need to be sewn not to the base of the pillowcase, but to the smell.
For how to sew pillowcases with ears with your own hands, see the next video.