DIY Tutorial: Monogram Pillow Case

Our 'Jummah special' for AR this past Jummah was a handmade monogram pillow cover made by Mama. I think this was by far the best gift he had gotten, his face was glowing mashaAllah, he took it from my hand a hugged the pillow and said "it says A  R mama... JazakaAllah khair" he was just so happy and excited about his new handmade by Mama pillow case.

The pleasure of taking time and making things to give your family and friends is priceless. And when done for  our children its truly worth seeing the expression on their beautiful faces "you MADE this for ME". When my husband came home from Jummah AR ran to him and said "Baba you know Mama made me a special A R pillow case..she made it last night even though she was sooooo tired". My husband and I were suprised to hear what he said, SubhanaAllah children are so caring and loving by fitra (nature)...its our duty as parents to nutrure this fitra they have.

I have always enjoyed makng my own things, I still have a skirt I had stitched in high-school. Last year I had started an etsy store named 'Handmadebits" alhumdulillah made a few sales but it was really taking from my time with the kids becoming a bit challenging from here, so I had to close it for the time and hope to go back up when Allah permits it inshaAllah.

InshaAllah if time permits I'll be sharing some of our previous handmade and future 'Jummah specials' and some tutorials.

Here's the tutorial for the Monogram pillow case. I didn't buy anything for this project, thats the best part!

You will need:

• Fabric (used or new) for the pillow case or cushion. (I used a fitted  i had lying around)
• GOOD fabric scissors
• Printed fabric for the monogram (I used an old dress of H)
• sewing machine!
• Iron

How to make it:

Step #1

Cut out two same size fabric pieces (square, rectangle,  circle) . Then iron it, when I stitch I  iron my piece after every stitch, it really helps balancing the whole piece.

Step #2

On a piece of paper draw a picture of how you want your final piece to look like and then stick to it. Trace your monogram letters on a paper free hand or print then if you want it to look perfect. I simply drew them straight on the fabirc with a fabric chalk free hand (you can see the orange marks), it washes of right away. Plus I like the natural look it gives when done free hand.

Step #3

Cut and pin your letters on the right side of the fabric. Design it how you want - you can just put the letters in the middle and leave the rest plain or add stripes on any side to give it some accent it will look amazing regardless...because you made it. If you choose to use trips or fabric for accent make sure you pin it to the fabric as well.

Step #4 

Stitch the letters on by keeping the setting of the machine on the 'zig-zag' stitch, this helps the letter stay firm and it looks nice. For the strips I used a straight stitch. 

Step #5

Put the right sides of the pillow case together and stitch the 2 long side and one short side close. Start stitching from the corner of the long side. Now stitch the fourth side half ways leaving enough space for the pillow to go in. You can hand stitch the opening close or use the machine, it up to you.

 You are all done!!

TA DAA!!

To be honest with you, you can make these any way you like... change the size, color, font, style and if you are feeling confident even the fabric! I used 100% cotton. This tutorial was just to give you an idea.

Stay tuned for our girls version of the monogram pillow!