Mom's Of All Trades: Pillow FIght

Have you all noticed our button on the side? Well it is a great cause and I am so excited to have my neighbor & friend Carlee and her amazing blog Ladybird Ln. Carlee was one of the reason I started craft blogging. She has and AMAZING Contest starting tomorrow that you will ALL want to enter. The Prizes are AWESOME! The guest judges also AMAZING! Ha Ha Maybe I am just saying that because yours truly are judges!! But back to Carlee I am so excited she is here today and I am a little shocked she shared an embarrassing picture of me PREGNANT! Ha ha that's the husband and & I on the left with Carlee and her cute family! So read this and go check out her fun blog!I also Promise to share the Brownie Cup recipe!

I am so happy to be here at Mom's of All Trades! Kori and Tara are amazing, I can say that because I know them in real life! Kori is honestly one of the most creative people I know, if I ever need an idea, I know just who to call! She is also very generous and fun! This is an OLD picture of us, isn't Kori the cutest pregnant lady?

However, she is HOLDING BACK on you faithful readers, yup that is right she is keeping secrets from you! Whenever we have a get together, Kori never has to ask what to bring it is expected that she brings BROWNIE CUPS! They are seriously a little bit of heaven.... and she has not shared.... yet!

Anyway, my name is Carlee, and I have a little blog with my sister Alyssa called Ladybird Ln. Today, Pillow Fight I am having on my blog that starts TOMORROW!!! And guess who one of the judges are?... Yup you guessed it Kori and Tara!

Every month on our blog, we feature a charity, service organization, etc... and a project we crafters/bloggers can unite in to help with that cause!

This month we are featuring a project very near and dear to our hearts. I have a great friend, Malynn, who is 14 years old, and has undergone some tough TOUGH medical stuff recently. She has been in and out of the hospital for the past 6 months. One might expect after all the medical problems she has endured she would be bitter and resolved. But not Malynn, she is amazing in so many ways. Instead of focusing on her issues she wants to help others. Malynn is an incredible seamstress, at the age of 14 she far surpasses my sewing ability! Just look at one of her latest purses..

Yup, she is amazing! She has made it a goal to donate 100 bright cheerful pillow cases to Primary Childrens Medical Center, to brighten up the patients rooms! When she was in the hospital it was so comforting to have her own pillow.

I decided I wanted to help her out with this great cause.... and what better way than a

PILLOW FIGHT! It is called Pillow Fight--For a Cause! Essentially this is a pillow contest where you can enter your homemade ruffly throw pillows, your sweet decorative pillows, your fleecy flower pillows, your bedazzled pillowcases... pretty much anything pillow related, that you have made. THE CLINCHER IS, in order to enter this contest you must donate a pillowcase, one pillowcase per entry! A bright, cheery, fun pillow case! You can either send it to me, and I will let Malynn donate it, or you can donate it to a local hospital, womens shelter, etc. You just have to let me know that you donated one!

We have some FABULOUS prizes for this contest. HUNDREDS of dollars worth of prizes! We will have guest judges narrow down the pillow field to ten, and then open it up to voting. The top three pillows will receive some amazing prizes. You even have a chance to win a pattern from AMY! Sponsors for this event include... Kati Cupcake, Cap Creations, Sew Obsessed, Vinylize It, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Naptime Crafters... And Malynn and I are even going to throw in some prizes. We will also have one random prize for anyone who links up--sound terrific, I think so! For more information click HERE!

So are you in? What is that you say, you don't know how to make a pillowcase? Well, let me show you! Creating a pillow case is simple, fast, and fun. It is a great beginner project, for any age. This would be a great project to teach your child how to sew! It took me less than an hour to complete this pillow case, and that was taking pictures as well!

Basic Pillow Case

Cutting List:
Main Body Fabric: 3/4 yard fabric {or 27 inches by Width of Fabric (WOF)}
Band Fabric: 1/4 yard fabric {or 9 inches by WOF}
Trim Fabric: (Optional): 1 strip, 2 inches by WOF

Instructions:

All seams are 1/4 inch, unless otherwise noted.

With wrong sides together, fold the band fabric in half lengthwise and press. Do the same with your trim fabric.

Baste together the folded trim piece to the folded band fabric. 1/8 inches from the raw edges along the length of the strips.

Basting, simply means create a long running stitch, so that the two pieces stay together. Don't worry if they do not line up perfectly at the ends, we will fix it later on!

Pin the band/trim to the right side of the pillowcase panel along the long edge, raw edges together, with trim sandwiched in the middle.

Sew together. Zig zag, serge, or overlock raw edges together (To help prevent fraying).

Trim up the uneven layers of your pillow. I used a rotary cuttery, ruler, and mat. But you could just use scissors!

Your pillow case should look like this now!

Fold the pillowcase right sides together. Pin together, making sure to match the band seam line. Sew a strait seam along raw edges. Zig zag, serge, or overlock raw edges.

Turn right side out; Press! You are finished Easy Peasy right! Below is some pillow case inspiration, all of these pillow cases are ones that I made, or that were given to me. Pillowcases make great gifts!

I tried to make this tutorial as strait forward as possible, but you can email me with any questions!

Please come join the Pillow Fight, on our blog! You can link up your pillow creations
June 15-22!

I am trying to spread the word about this contest, I would love to donate 100 pillow cases! I can not imagine what it would be like to have a child in the hospital for extended periods of time. I hope these pillowcases can be a comfort, and reminder of home!

Thank you Mom's for letting me crash your blog today!