Repurposed Pillow Case

For reasons unknown to me, when I buy queen sized sheets, they don't come with queen sized pillowcases-they come with standard sized pillowcases. Fine. Be that way, textile manufactures. I have a new purpose for those pillowcases...and I tried to include enough pictures (albeit, not great pictures) to show you how to make a cute little summer bag from a standard sized pillowcase. You'll need a package of single fold bias tape, some straight pins and about an hour.

STEP 1: Iron the pillow case so you can easily cut it on the diagonal.



STEP 2: Iron the bias tape flat so it no longer has two folds in it and then fold it in half and iron it flat. You'll be using this to cover all raw edges so you won't need to hem anything (score!)


STEP 3: Sew the tape over the raw edges of each side-you should have exactly enough so if you are trying this with a bigger pillow case-you'll need more than one pack of tape.


STEP 4: Turn the piece that has the pre-sewn bottom of the case inside out. Over it, place the piece that was the top of the case (both edges, so you should have the two layers of the bottom inside out against the two layers of the top, right side out). Sew them together across this bottom portion.


STEP 5: Turn the inside out part back to right side out. It should look something like this:


STEP 6: Now you'll want those straight pins. At the parts where the diagonals meet, pin the tape to the case so you close the gaps (otherwise, everything will fall out of your bag). I found it was easiest to put a little tac at the V where the two pieces of tape meet to stop it from shifting. Make sure you place the pins so you can pull them out as you go instead of head-first to the sewing machine or you'll be cursing.


STEP 7: Tie the top "points" together in a know and enjoy your super cute little bag!


This little baby is perfect for the beach, for the farmer's market, for the kids AND it's totally machine washable.