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How to Make DIY Pillow Covers from Curtains

Easy tutorial using curtain panels to make pillow covers. A quick and easy project to make custom DIY pillow covers that match your curtains.

Image collage of completed DIY pillow covers with text overlay

A master bedroom is where a person spends a lot of their time, but it is often the last place in a home to be decorated. Learn how to make DIY pillow covers to add to the decor of your master bedroom.

I avoided decorating my master bedroom for a long time because I figured that not a lot of people, aside from my family, will ever see it or spend time in it. Another reason why I justified it is that I thought if I spend most of it in there sleeping, then it doesn’t have to be pretty. But that’s simply not the case!

I’ve come to realize that a master bedroom should feel like a sanctuary, almost like a bit of an escape from the rest of your home, to help you relax, restore and rest. And prior to any sort of décor efforts, I rarely walked into my master bedroom and felt happy.

Our master bedroom was always a little plain and nothing really matched nicely. The furniture was dated and mismatched, the bedding was underwhelming and it was lacking in covers and curtains. So I decided to make decorating my master bedroom a bit more of a priority while still working on the rest of my house.

Over the past two years, I’ve been ever-so-slowing transforming my master bedroom into an oasis that I actually want to spend time in! It’s been a fun process and I’m really happy with how it’s turning out.

In the master bedroom, I have one long window that never had a cover and curtains in front of it. As a dedicated DIYer, I was originally planning to sew a curtain for that space, but then one day I randomly came across the perfect curtain, for the perfect price, at a local store. I just had to buy it.

single curtain tied to the side on the window

So the plan for making my own curtain for that space went “out the window,” so to speak. The curtain that I fell in love with came as a set with two panels. Since I only needed one panel, I started brainstorming what I could do with the other one. I loved the pattern so much that I thought it would be nice to add it somewhere else within my master bedroom décor.

Having the same pattern on more than one thing in the room would also help the décor feel a little more cohesive and purposeful. I came up with a new DIY plan. The extra curtain panel would make the perfect pillow cover! So I started looking into how to make pillow covers with a curtain panel.

Learning how to make pillow covers out of a curtain ended up being easier than I thought. I would consider myself a beginner sewer and am confident that if I can do it, so can you. Some simple sewing projects I’ve made are doll crib bedding, a heart shaped taggie blanket for a baby, and burlap Christmas ornaments.

I’ve never made anything really too fancy or complicated. Being a mom and chronic DIYer I’m all about making nice, functional things with minimal effort. A cover and curtains are usually really basic materials that you can easily repurpose for other projects. I thought learning how to make pillow covers with my leftover curtain panel would be a perfect way to use the extra material and tie in the pattern throughout my master bedroom.

My curtain panel made two pillow covers. I used older pillows that I already had but just needed an update. Keep your old pillow covers and you can switch them out when you need a change or seasonally.

How to make DIY pillow covers

Materials:

Step-by-step tutorial

image of cutting mat for DIY pillow covers

Once you’ve decided to learn how to make a pillow cover, begin by measuring the width and length of the pillow(s) that you are making the cover for. Add about half an inch to that measurement for seam allowances.

I was going to make two covers for two pillows that were 20″ x 20″, so I measured 20.5″

pattern cut for DIY pillow covers

Then, cut the hemmed edges of your curtain off to make a new straight edge. Cut out a square using that measurement above. That will be your pillow front. In my example, my pillow front was 20.5″ x 20.5″

Now cut another piece of fabric the same width as the front and add 4″ to that for the height (Mine is 24.5″ x 20.5″). Then cut that piece in half. You will end up with two small rectangles that are the same width as your pillow (mine are 20.5″ x 12.25″). If your curtains had a pattern to them, you will want to make sure that these two rectangles will have the pattern in the same direction. For mine, I wanted the stripes going horizontally for both pieces and I wanted them to line up on the seam.

ironing edges of fabric

Fold over the center edges of your two back rectangles by 1/4″ and iron them down flat. Fold one more time and iron.

sewing a hem with sewing machine

Sew this hem in place.

fabric folded over for DIY pillow covers

Lay your two back pillow cover and curtain pieces on top of the front piece. Right sides together. The two back pieces will overlap a bit.

sewing seam for DIY pillow covers

Pin all four sides of the pillow cover in place. Using a 3/8″ seam allowance, sew along the edges of the cover. When you are done sewing, clip the corners off and turn your pillow cover right side out.

Here are some pictures of my finished project! I love how the pillows effortlessly match the curtain. Plus, I feel good about repurposing a curtain panel that I wasn’t going to use otherwise.

completed DIY pillow covers
throw pillows on a bed
image of side with envelop style opening for pillows
pillows on chair next to table in front of a window

One of my favorite things about DIY projects is how environmentally friendly they are. And while I love how my master bedroom is coming together, I think that you could do this project for any room in the house.

Don’t forget to hop over and take a look at our new Master Bedroom Gallery Wall too!

throw pillows on a bed

How to Make DIY Pillow Covers from Curtains

Yield: 2 DIY pillow covers
Prep Time: 1 hour
Active Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: Easy

Easy tutorial using curtain panels to make pillow covers. A quick and easy project to make custom DIY pillow covers that match your curtains.

Materials

Tools

  • Sewing Machine

Instructions

    1. Measure the width and length of the pillow(s) that you are making the cover for. Add about half an inch to that measurement for seam allowances.
    2. Cut the hemmed edges of your curtain off to make a new straight edge. Cut out a square using that measurement above. That will be your pillow front.
    3. Now cut another piece of fabric the same width as the front and add 4″ to that for the height (Mine is 24.5″ x 20.5″). Then cut that piece in half.
    4. Fold over the center edges of your two back rectangles by 1/4″ and iron them down flat. Fold one more time and iron. Sew this hem in place.
    5. Lay your two back pillow cover and curtain pieces on top of the front piece. Right sides together. The two back pieces will overlap a bit.
    6. Pin all four sides of the pillow cover in place. Using a 3/8″ seam allowance, sew along the edges of the cover. When you are done sewing, clip the corners off and turn your pillow cover right side out.
    7. Insert your pillow and you're done!

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