It’s only 11 weeks until Christmas. Eeek! Where did 2019 go? This year I’m trying to be more organised than I have been in past years, and I’m planning to make a lot of my Christmas presents (any family members reading this - please act surprised when you open your presents on Christmas morning!).

Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some easy and effective tutorials and patterns here on my blog as I’m sure there’s lots of people out there looking for gift ideas that are a bit different. Perhaps you are on a tight budget for presents this year, or maybe you are looking for ways to help use up your fabric stash and make room for all the amazing new fabric that will be arriving in 2020. Or are you trying to shop small this year and avoid the crowds at the shopping centres? Hopefully you will find these tutorials and patterns useful!

First up - pillowcases. I love the Envelope Pillowcase Tutorial by Aqua Paisley Studios and I have made these pillowcases many times now. They are a great way to use up those large scale prints that get lost when they’re cut into smaller pieces for a quilt, or you can use fun prints to make some unique pillowcases for kids. You can use up to four different fabrics in your pillowcases and it’s lots of fun to play around with different colour combinations. The way these pillowcases are constructed means that the inner pillow is completely covered up and has no chance of being seen!

The cute foxes in these pillow cases are from the Forest Spirit Range by Felice Regina (@iamlunasol on Instagram) and you can find this range in our online store here. You can also buy complete fabric kits to make the pillowcases for just $19. My kids are already fighting over who gets which one so I guess I’ll be making more! But next I will be making a more grown-up set using this gorgeous large-scale print by Shannon Newlin. In the past I have also used Anna Maria Horner fabric to make pillowcases - they are used whenever there is an Anna Maria Horner quilt on my bed.

I hope you get to make some pillowcases of your own! Thank you to Samantha of Aqua Paisley Studios for giving me permission to share her tutorial with you.

Emma x