I would like to say we feel totally refreshed, but the truth is we could use a few more days of retreating to feel completely refreshed. But isn't that always the case!
This year at retreat we discussed some interesting things and we have decided to try something new. That something is a charity project. We have some members of our little sewing group that do some volunteer work and talk got around to making pillowcases. We decided that between now and the next retreat that we would go through our stashes and see what we have that can be turned into pillowcases. Basically you need 3/4 of a yard for the main body and 1/4 yard for the band. We are using the hot dog method. Perhaps you are familiar with this method?
I'll see if I can explain without pictures, although if you google "Hot dog Pillowcase pattern" You will get some results that will have pictures to make it easier.
Take your 1/4 yard band piece and lay it right side up. You will now lay your 3/4 yard main fabric piece wrong side up, matching the raw edges. These fabrics are laying out selvedge to slevedge across your table so that the selvedge edges are at the right and left sides (rather than the top and bottom sides). At this point I pin (with the pins perpendicular to the edge (or standing up rather than running across) of the fabric. Now is where you make the hot dog. Oh, and don't worry if your selvedges are not lining up, we will get to trimming in a bit.
Take the bottom raw edge of your main fabric and fan fold it so that all edged are between the two raw edges of your 1/4 yard band fabric. Be sure you do not cover that top edge, you will be sewing a seam here. Now fold the bottom raw edge of your 1/4 yard band fabric over to meet the top two raw edges. You will want to pin these three layers together. I typically use the pins I already have used to hold the first two layers together. Take your rather long hot dog to your sewing machine and sew your standard 1/4" seam along where you have pinned removing the pins as you go (obviously!). Once you are through, you will need to turn it right side out by pulling your main print out from the middle of your hot dog. You should now have a band with an enclosed seam on your focus fabric. Press so that your band lies flat - press down from the focus fabric to flatten the enclosed seam from both the right and wrong side of your fabric.
Now, fold your pillowcase half, selvedge to selvedge. Here is where you will trim up the side and across the top to even everything out. Now, you have a choice on how to finish. If you are fortunate enough to have a serger you can fold right sides together and serge across the top and the bottom. If you would like a fancier finish, you could do a french seam.
If you would like to do a french seam, you will need to fold your pillowcase in half with wrong sides together (selvedge to selvedge) and sew a scant 1/4" seam across the top and side of your pillowcase. Once that is done, you will need to turn your pillowcase inside out. You will now sew a full 1/4" (or even a little larger) seam across the top and the side that you have already sewn. This will enclose your seam and give you a nicer finish. Turn your pillowcase back to the right side and you are finished!
I apologize if I have left out any steps - it may be easier to just google "Hot dog Pillowcase pattern" and see what kind of pictorials you can find to make my convoluted instructions that much easier to understand.
If you are in our area and you would like to participate in our little project, we certainly welcome you! If you would like to donate fabric or even finished pillowcases you can drop them off during our regular business hours. We are trying to keep it to cottons and flannels and not necessarily children's prints either. We are trying to cover a wide variety of ages with our project as best we can.
Happy Quilting!
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