The Seasoned Homemaker: The Absolute Beginner’s Tutorial on How to Make an Envelope Pillow

In a few days I will wrap up my obsession with pillow-making by creating the most basic, Absolute Beginner’s Tutorial on How to Make an Envelope Pillow.

When I started my notes for this, I had to think like an absolute sewing beinnger and that brought to mind a fundamental to sewing that is rarely covered in tutorials:

{Finding the Fabric Grain}

This becomes extremely relevant when sewing garments, especially pants. Have you ever owned a pair of jeans where one of the seams twisted towards the front or back?

The reason for this is the manufacturer didn’t bother to look for the fabric grain when cutting out the fabric.

Finding the fabric grain is also important when sewing pillows, especially ones with a distinct pattern.

Before starting, there are a couple of steps that need to take place to get you ready to make an envelope pillow.

Pre-Project Steps:

A. You will need to be familiar with your sewing machine. Have it threaded in a complementary color thread with a new needle (80/12). You may want to sew a few practice seams on some fabric scraps before moving forward.

B. Another pre-project step would be to wash, dry, and press your fabric. You NEVER want to work with wadded up wrinkled fabric.

What is the Fabric Grain Line

All woven fabrics (like 100% cotton) have a grain line. This occurs during the manufacture of the fabric when it is being woven.

Picture a loom with its long threads stretching out. Those long threads form the fabric grain or the warp.

In the weaving process, shorter threads are woven under and over across these long threads, thus forming a woven fabric. The shorter threads form the crossgrain or the weft.

The bias runs 45-degrees across the grain and will stretch. There are times you want to cut along the bias, but this isn’t one of them.

The grain line runs parallel with the selvage edge. This is the factory edge that is stamped with the manufacturer’s name.

There are two selvage edges on cut fabric, one with the manufacturer’s information and the other that matches the fabric.

The grain lines are the strongest threads in a woven fabric and you will want your pillow to run along these lines, making it sturdy.

Try this experiment: Pull your fabric along the grain line (or selvage). Notice that there is hardly any stretch.

Now, pull it across the crossgrain {this would be the edge where the fabric was cut at the store} and notice how it gives a little.

Lastly, pull it along the bias and see how it really stretches.

If you ignore the fabric grain, you may end up with your fabric being cut on a bias, which runs across the grain. The bias will cause your fabric to pucker and stretch; and your envelope pillow case will not fit the pillow form.

Finding the Fabric Grain Line

In order for your pillow to be perfectly square, you will need to find the grain line.

If you are using a scrap of fabric that no longer has a selvage or perhaps you are repurposing something, there is still a way to find the straight grain.

Below is a scrap of fabric with unknown grain lines. Since the fabric’s pattern in non-directional, I will need to find the grain.

Pull on the fabric (like I did above) until you find the warp, or grain. Make a 1” snip.

Now, pull and tear across the fabric, leaving a frayed edge.

Pull out the excess threads until the top threads are on all along the same line.

That even thread line is your grain line!

Now, all you need to do is set this grain line on a straight edge, like a cutting mat, and you will be able to square up the other side.

Isn’t that easy?

**Please, please remember that the cut edge from the fabric store rarely is square and you will need to find the true grain line before cutting out your pillow pieces.

You are now ready to begin Step 1 of your Envelope Pillow: Find the Fabric Grain!