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delia creates

home, review, sewing, sponsored, tutorial · August 29, 2014

Zippered Pillow Tutorial – Two Ways

Zippers can be scary right? Especially if you are new to sewing. But there is really no need to fear! It’s one of those things you have to jump in and try, so you can surprise yourself and see that it’s quite satisfying.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesIt is best though, to not jump in blind. Zippers come with (vague) instructions but sometimes…most times…you just need someone to show you, right?!

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesCraftsy has you covered with their Mastering Zipper Techniques class. It’s a totally FREE (!) instructional video and is very well taught by the lovely and talented Sunni Standing. UPDATE: I am sorry to say that Craftsy has turned this class into a paid course. Please refer to Youtube for basic zipper installation videos. Melly Sews and Made Everyday are also a great resource for basic sewing videos.

If you already know how to sew with zippers, her class is still worth watching. She shows you the proper way to install three different kinds of zippers, plus lining techniques, shortening techniques, and a bunch of other little tips and tricks to make you a better zipper sew-er.

The focus of her class is installing zippers into garments, but they also work great for other projects like today’s pillow projects.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesIt’s no secret, pillowcases are some of my favorite things to sew. See HEREΒ and HERE. I even taught a class about it HERE.

They are also a great way to practice zipper installation. It takes such little amounts of fabric and time. With pillows you can’t lose!

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesToday, I’ll be showing you how to make zippered pillow cases two ways: with an invisible zip and a lapped zipper.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesI’m going to take you through each tutorial, send you over to Craftsy for the zipper instruction, and then invite you back here for the final steps. Sound good?

Great!

Let’s start with the lapped zipper pillow.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesPLEASE NOTE: ALL seam allowances for both pillows are 5/8″.Β 

MATERIALS:

pillow form
fabric, matching and contrasting, bottom weight or heavy weight fabric works best
standard zipper about the same length as your pillow form
matching thread
basic sewing supplies (machine, seam ripper, pins, scissors, etc. )
Β 

Notes: There are no measurements in the materials list because it depends on the pillow form you decide to use.

Step One: Cutting Fabric

If you are using a 12″ pillow form, as I am here. You need:

1- Β 12″ by 12″ piece

1 – 4 5/8″ by 12″ piece

1 – 8 5/8″ by 12″ piece

As you can see, for the front, zippered portion of the pillow you simply cut the pillow in half in any ratio you desire (6 and 6, 8 and 4, 7 and 5) and then add 5/8″ to the cut side (or the shorter measurement). For example, if youΒ want toΒ divide your 12″pillow piece into 8 and 4 inches, cut yourΒ piecesΒ toΒ 8 5/8″ x 12″and 4 5/8″ x 12″.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesYou can make both pieces the same color or pattern, of course. I just feel like it naturally lends itself to be a functional design element. If you are going to have to sew it like that anyway, why not make it interesting right? Β Color block it or pattern block it, like I did. Whatever you want. Just make sure that the two pieces of fabric are of similar weight and quality. You don’t want the two fabrics to compete with each other and affect the fit of the pillow case.

Step Two: Shorten your zipper.Β 

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia Creates Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesYou need your zipper, from zipper pull to zipper stop to be 1 1/4 inches shorter than the width of your fabric, or 5/8 inches shorter at each end. This ensures that you will be able to sew cleanly up the sides of your pillow later.

You can learn how to shorten a zipper in theΒ Mastering Zipper TechniquesΒ class. Sunni shows you the proper hand sewn zipper stop method. I personally prefer the down and dirty, put your feed dogs down, and sew a zig zag stitch over the teeth on your sewing machine method. If you do that, leave long tails and double knots the ends by hand.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesStep Three: Sew a lapped zipper using two front pillow pieces.

VisitΒ theΒ Mastering Zipper TechniquesΒ class to learn how to do this. The lapped zipper lesson is toward the very end. You can skip to it by clicking on the top left hand tab, but I recommend going through the whole course first, if you can.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesSunni shares a cool interfacing product for reinforcing the zipper opening. I don’t have any, so I used light weight interfacing cut into strips 1 1/4″ wide.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesThe only change you need to make to your lapped zipper is that when you are top stitching the zipper into place, sew straight down. There is no need to pivot and sew across the bottom of the zipper teeth for these pillow cases.

Step Four: Sew your pillow pieces together.Β 

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesKeep your zipper zipped up. Pin three of the four sides, including both sides that contain the zipper. Sew around the three sides.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesNow, reach into the opening and unzip the zipper halfway. Finish sewing the fourth side.

Optional: overlock stitch or zig zag stitch along the raw edges.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesIf you do not overlock stitch the edges, clip the corners before zig zag stitching. The helps the corners turn right side out better.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesTurn the pillow case right side out, through the unzipped opening. Β Stuff your pillow form in…

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesDone!

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia Creates

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesNext up, theΒ invisible zipper pillow!

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesRemember: Seam allowance is 5/8″.

MATERIALS:

pillow form
fabric of choice: heavy weight, bottom weight type fabrics are ideal
invisible zipper
matching thread
basic sewing supplies (machine, seam ripper, pins, scissors, etc. )
Β 

Note: No yardage or measurements are listed because they vary depending on the size pillow form you use.

Step One: Cut your fabric and shorten your zipper.

If you are using a 20″ pillow form, cut two square pieces to exactly 20″ by 20″. There is no extra seam allowance added, because a tighter pillow case looks better most of the time. (If you have a particularly fluffy pillow, you mayΒ decide to add seam allowance.)

If you are using a 20″ pillow form, you need an 18″ zipper. For the invisible zipper pillow you want your zipper a little bit smaller than your pillow.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesFor a cleaner look, you want to be able to sew around the corners and not have the zipper zip right to the corner.Β If your zipper is too long, shorten it like you did for the lapped zipper pillow.

Your zipper should be a minimum of 1.5″ shorter than your pillow caseΒ at each end.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesStep Two: Install your invisible zipper to one side of each of your pillow case pieces.

For full instruction on how to sew an invisible zipper see the Mastering Zipper Techniques class. Tip: Β You can click on the drop down menu at the top left, to skip to the invisible zipper chapter.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia Creates

Now that your zipper is installed…

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia Creates

Step Three: Sew your pillow case.

Open your invisible zipper about 1/3 of the way. Pin around the remaining three sides, as well as the corners of the zipper edge.

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesStep Three: Sew all the way around, stopping at the zipper. You want to sew just past where the zipper seam starts and just barely to the inside of it. The zipper class explains this in terms of sewing a skirt. Instead of just sewing up one side though, sew both corner ends in the same fashion as you would sew up the bottom of the skirt.

Optional: overlock stitch the raw edges.

Turn right side out, through the unzipped opening, and you’re ready to stuff that turkey!

Zippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesZippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia CreatesZippered Pillow TUTORIAL Two Ways - Delia Creates

More about Craftsy…

Remember if you sign up for the FREE Mastering Zipper Techniques class, it’s yours for life. Go back and review it as many times as you like, ask the instructor or fellow class mates questions, or bookmark parts of the video as you go. This class really a great way to get a feel for Craftsy classes and to learn or brush up on some sewing techniques.

Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Craftsy. The tutorial content and all opinions expressed are absolutely and enthusiastically my own.

Previous Post: « DIY Headwrap Bands Tutorial
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Lacey says

    August 29, 2014 at 1:18 PM

    Every tutorial you post is superb! Thank you for this!

    Reply
  2. Megan @ Homemade Ginger says

    August 29, 2014 at 7:39 PM

    I love this so much! Adorable!

    Reply
    • Delia says

      August 29, 2014 at 10:28 PM

      Thank you Megan!

      Reply
  3. Charity says

    August 29, 2014 at 8:59 PM

    I’ve never even thought of putting a lapped zipper in a pillow like this…. great idea! Although I’ll always love invisible zippers best. I like the change in stripe direction on the black and white pillow!

    Reply
    • Delia says

      August 29, 2014 at 10:28 PM

      Thanks Charity! I like invisible zippers best too, but it was fun to incorporate a lapped zipper which I feel doesn’t get used as often.

      Reply
  4. Allison Waken says

    August 30, 2014 at 9:34 AM

    You are so awesome! Thanks for this tutorial. I’m still so new at sewing and you break it down so well!

    Reply
  5. Pearl says

    September 14, 2014 at 11:59 AM

    Hi Delia,
    Where do you get your zippers from?

    Reply
    • Delia says

      September 15, 2014 at 9:30 PM

      Hi Pearl,

      I usually get them from Jo-Ann, Coats and Clark brand. I sometimes buy some YKK zippers online though. All of them have been great.

      Reply
  6. Krista Hansen says

    October 18, 2014 at 10:18 PM

    This worked so well!! Thanks for linking to the Craftsy site, which was new for me. I did my first invisible zipper! And your instructions for how to make it work in a pillow were really helpful too. Thanks for always doing such a great job and helping other people learn new skills.

    Reply
    • Delia says

      October 20, 2014 at 8:20 AM

      Krista,

      Thank you for your kind comment!

      And…Yay for installing your first invisible zipper! Isn’t it so satisfying to zip it up and see it disappear? One of the best little sewing pleasures. πŸ™‚
      So glad you like the tutorial.

      Delia πŸ™‚

      Reply
  7. Mark says

    August 30, 2018 at 6:10 PM

    The master class is NOT free and this “tutorial” is a waste of time.

    Reply
    • Delia says

      September 7, 2018 at 1:24 PM

      I’m sorry you had a bad experience. This post is four years old, so Craftsy must have changed the status of the free class to paid. I had no idea until you said something. That is unfortunate! I’m so sorry that they did that. If you google how to install a zipper or look on youtube, I am sure you can find basic zipper installation tutorials. With that knowledge under your belt, these tutorials are surely not a waste of time. I hope you are able to find the information you are looking for. πŸ™‚

      Reply
  8. diane nelson says

    December 8, 2020 at 6:15 AM

    I have been desperately seeking a tutorial on how to make a three sided razor edge pillow and the last (bottom side) edge with a zipper resulting in a slightly wedge shaped pillow. I can’t figure out how to sew the edges to the wider bottom as the seam allowance on the sides is not wide enough to meet the sides related to the zipper.

    Reply
    • Delia says

      December 10, 2020 at 1:11 PM

      I’m not sure if I totally understand your question, but I think if you want to add some seam allowance but no bulk, you could add a rectangle bump out on either side of your zipper. Does that make sense?

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Tutorial: Zippered pillow covers 2 ways – Sewing says:
    August 31, 2014 at 7:06 PM

    […] Zippered Pillow Case Tutorial Two Ways, by Delia Creates […]

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