I am Lily - stitcher and part time bookseller. Mother to my gorgeous girl, Abigail and wife to Julian. I make time each day to let my imagination potter and add quirky prettiness and handmade comfort to our home and lives. You can email me at lily(at)blockaday(dot)com
:: the perfect christmas present ::
the humble handmade pillowcase
you only need 1.6 metres of lovely, standard width fabric to make a pair - particularly fine if it is from the sale section of the patchwork store :-)
the opportunities for trim are endless - pillowcases for everyone!
they are SO super quick to make - less than an hour.
I want to be a bespoke pillowcase maker when I grow up …
19 December, 2008 at 1:29 pm
I love it! The colors are beautiful. Get gift idea.
-Rebecka
19 December, 2008 at 1:59 pm
oooh, that’s pretty. And ricrac - I LOVE ricrac, the world seems so wonderful if you trim things with ricrac ;)
19 December, 2008 at 2:54 pm
absolutely stunning Lily!
19 December, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I agree with Kay–everything is improved with ric rac! :-) I have a pile of fabric ready for pillowcases but they will have to wait. Today–a snow day–is dedicated to some icky paperwork I’ve put off and monitoring the stitching of some felt appliques for little friend gifts. These bookmarks are going to be decidedly large… Please don’t tell me the Kaffe was on sale. :-)
19 December, 2008 at 4:03 pm
I love making pillowcases! We have far too many, and still I could make dozens more. I made some to match the quilt I made for my 2-year-old nephew, despite the fact that it will be quite a while before he needs the big pillowcases (the pattern I use makes them nice and big, perfect for overstuffed pillows, which apparently wee children don’t use - can you tell I don’t have kids?). Rick-rack, ribbon, and some fabric. So easy too!
Incidentally, for the first one I made for my husband, I used the “king size” instructions, since he is always sleeping so violently as to remove the pillow halfway from its case each night. It turned out, quite hilariously, about a foot too long. He loves it. Won’t let me fix it. Thinks its absolutely perfect and wants me to make more, which I refuse to do.
And here I thought I couldn’t screw up that project.
19 December, 2008 at 4:11 pm
And I meant to type Katy but my keyboarding is ahead of my computer processing….
19 December, 2008 at 6:11 pm
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today on:: the perfect christmas present :: | block-a-dayHere’s a quick excerptthe perfect christmas present ::. 19 December, 2008 christmas, pillowcases. the humble handmade pillowcase. you only need 1.6 metres of lovely, standard width fabric to make a pair - particularly fine if it is from the sale section of … [...]
19 December, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Very nice, Lily. You can never have too many pillow cases!
20 December, 2008 at 3:31 am
They are lovely! You are the best pillowcase maker I know! Very nice fabrics indeed! Mrs. Santa is very busy now! She has to make some nice Christmas baskets for friends. It means baking all the day long. Have a nice weekend!
20 December, 2008 at 3:12 pm
This is a great gift! I’m putting it onto my project queue for the next gifting opportunity. I’m all sewn out for Christmas and I’m going to need my dining room for eating next week. Have a great holiday!
21 December, 2008 at 12:35 am
Handmade pillowcases! That is going on my sewing list for next year :) They look so great, and they really do make your bed look special :)
21 December, 2008 at 4:35 am
I just love making pillow cases. Haven’t done that for several years now. Need to do that again. It would be a good excuse to buy fabric - I don’t have any pieces big enough to make a matching pair! Love your fabric choices - so bright and happy!
21 December, 2008 at 11:03 am
I’ve never even thought of making pillowcases - what a great idea! Maybe that’s what I’ll do with that lovely snowman fabric I couldn’t resist buying…
21 December, 2008 at 7:39 pm
I’ve done this. It’s so fun because there are some great fabrics out there that just match the personalities of people I know. Simple and useful.
I love the fabric you used!
22 December, 2008 at 1:24 pm
You aussie girls seem to have the best fabrics! Sort of Anthropologie-ish.