DIY Pillowcase

Somehow I acquired this body pillow which no one else seemed to want and since it came to me with this horrid colored pillowcase, I had to take emergency action which involved making a pillowcase out of an old curtain (or dust ruffle...or something else...I really can't remember) that was very easy, but did not match my room at all. It was like a white background with a red and yellow flowery pattern. Very old-fashioned. In a boring way. Not vintage, just like some new person was trying to make it look old. 

Anyways...I had brainstorming for a long time about what kind of pillowcase to make. It was one of those things where I had so many options, I couldn't decide on anything. It also didn't help that the fabric I wanted for it cost a fortune (in my opinion). So I finally just settled on a cheap cotton fabric that was neutral and left room for my imagination. 

I had a definite idea for one side: I wanted it to have birds on it. I just had to make a bird pillowcase. So this is the result: 

Ok. I'll admit it. I love this bird. I don't know why these birds make me so happy, but they do. 

I had quite a time figuring out the other side. I originally wanted to do these mosaic-like shapes out of fabric scraps. But this was one of those times when the picture in my mind ended up nothing like the actual thing. It looked really bad. It was like 6pm at night, I had been working on this now-failed idea for a couple days, my room was a wreck, and I was reaching that point where I just had to get this finished. I have this thing for getting things done. If I'm actually in the middle of the project (and I didn't shove it under the bed for a rainy day) then I'm totally obsessed with getting it done. It becomes extremely important I finish it, no matter what. So that evening, it was essential to my sanity that I finish my pillowcase. After some mind (and internet) searching for a new idea, I decided on a theme of leaves. And this is the result: 

It looks like this pile of leaves is being swept across the pillow. It turned out so well, I can't decide if I like it or my lovely birds better. I just cut out like a billion of these shapes (after printing a templete from online) in the different fabrics. It was hard to arrange them because I tend to be very neat and organized, so I kept wanting to make it look ordered and symmetrical, then had to remind myself that they needed to be random and wind-strewn. After they were all pinned down, I just used my machine to sew down the center of each one. This resulted in a lot of loose threads and took some time, but it was worth it. 

I love my pillowcase :)