DIY PILLOWCASES 4.0: For the fourth time, I sewed a new set of pillowcases for Charlie and I, and hopefully this set will last for a few years. I really hate keeping track of pillowcases that should match our various bed sheets. Not to mention, most bed sets contain only two pillowcases and Charlie and I each have two pillows.

GRAY MATCHES EVERYTHING: During a trip to the fabric store, I walked in on a HUGE clearance sale. Woot! I found a few bolts of gray fabric that would work as central pillowcases. After a few minutes deciding which fabric would work best, I settled on a lovely gray floral pattern — a fabric I think Charlie wouldn’t mind too much. Surprisingly, he liked the fabric.

WHAT IS FUN AND MATCHES FLOWERS? Dots? Stripes? Plaid? All I know was I didn’t want to use another floral pattern for the pillowcase cuff. I’m not a big fan of working with stripes so I settled on pretty little dots! For a little bit of fun and brightness, I chose a cute and flirty floral fabric with smiley faces.

ARGH! I HATE MAKING MISTAKES! I have used the “hot dog” or “burrito” method more than a dozen times, and somehow, I still make mistakes. My pretty little mind can only hold so much information. I have the tendency to forget either the order of the fabrics or the direction of the fabrics (up? down? up?).

PILLOWCASE TO SKIRT: Well, at least I had the order of the fabrics right — the direction of the main fabric not so much. *sigh* Even though I knew Charlie was only joking about mediocre pillowcases, I didn’t like the idea of my lovely head laying on an imperfect pillowcase. So, I fixed a few of the pillowcases and turned two cases into a cute pencil skirt.

HELLO, NEW PILLOWCASES! How cute are my pillowcases? I love them! And Charlie loves the new pillowcases and is impressed with how nice they turned out. Thanks to the clearance hunt and a few coupons, I spent about $35 and made nine pillowcases, one skirt, and one wheelchair tote. Not too bad for a bargain hunt and a few hours at the sewing machine, eh?