All-time easiest pillowcase tutorial

This post is a little different than most. A friend of mine asked for a super basic, no frills tutorial on how to make a pillowcase, and I happily obliged. I have tried to make this tutorial as easy, cut and dry, straightforward and intuitive as I can muster. This is a tutorial for beginner seamstresses, therefore I simplified the jargon, reduced all the "or you could do           , it's up to you" type statements. Trust me on this one. At some point you'll be going "but I could do it this other way" or "I could make it prettier by..." and that's totally okay. I feel that these fine interwebz can supply you with all the pretty pillowcase tutorials you could want, but I struggled to find a super simple beginner style post on how to make a pillowcase. Without further ado, here we go:

Supplies:

-A sewing machine, threaded with bobbin and top thread. If you are unsure of how to thread your machine your manual will have the instructions to do so. If you are not in possession of the manual google "How to thread whatever brand and model you own"

-Straight pins or quilting pins. 

-Cotton or a cotton/poly blend fabric. 

In a fabric store these types of fabric can be found in the "novelty prints" section or the "calico" section. Ask one of those sweet older ladies at the fabric store and they'll help you right out.

 For standard size pillows a yard and 1/8 will do. Some choose to use 1 yard but it gives a smaller hem and is harder to sew, so for beginners I'd recommends a yard and 1/8. If you have a larger or square pillow take an existing case with you to the fabric store and they can help you purchase the correct size.
-Steam Iron (not pictured)

First fold your fabric right sides together (meaning the pretty vibrant sides touching) longways (hot dog style) as shown below. Corner is folded to show right sides vs wrong sides.

Now the below image shows you which sides you will be pinning and sewing. We need to first sew one open "end" and the "open" long side. Open, meaning that it's not the folded edge. I'll refer to the below image as the reference photo. 

Now pin your fabric together every 4-6 inches with the pins facing inward on the marked edge as shown in the reference photo

Now we will begin sewing. Use a medium to small stitch (EX: if your machine stitch sizes ranges from 0-5 use 2.5 or less) and begin sewing at the bottom (the small side) on the folded edge. Scroll up to the reference photo. It'll be the top left corner where you'll begin, sewing towards the top right corner. Maintain a seam allowance of an inch. Remove your pins as you sew. Sew a bit backwards once you sew forward a 1/4 inch to create a sort of a knot.

As you approach within an inch of the long "open" side stop sewing, turn the knob on the side of your machine towards you to lower the needle into the fabric, pick up the foot, and swivel the fabric so that you're ready to sew the long "open" side. 

Now if this bit is too difficult to master sew across, cut the thread, and begin a new stitch from the bottom the the long "open" edge. I have faith in y'all. 

Whichever way you do it, sew up the long "open", now "closed" edge and back stitch again to make that bit of a knot. Still with me?

Now we should only have one open edge, the "top". This is where we'll sew the hem.

Break out that iron and iron down the seam on the long end.

Fold down the first layer of the hem. It should be about 2 inches. Iron it.

Now fold the first fold onto itself and add another 1/4 on an inch at the top. Sorry, the below image is blurry but I still think it'll be helpful for you. As you can see, I folded the fold again and added a bit more at the top of the hem. Again, I apologize for the low quality image. Iron the whole entourage. 

It's time to sew the hem, We're almost done!

If your machine has a piece that pops off you you can sew ring shaped seams pull that bit off.

Go ahead and put about 8 pins in the hem and sew it with a 1/2 seam allowance. Go all the way around and do your best to get the beginning and the end to match up.

And boom! We're finished! 

As I already mentioned, you can get all fancy and add trim and use fancy quilting stitches and such. Just google it up. People have some great tutorials.

Pillowcases make great gifts for kids (especially at a sleepover or before camp), people who are sick or on bed rest (they spend a bunch of time in bed and who doesn't need a fun pillowcase?) or really anyone who enjoys sleep. 

I hope this was helpful, and if ANYTHING seams unclear just drop by in the comments section and I will respond with deliberate speed :)

P.S. 

Speak kindly to your sewing machine. Yes, they can be finicky, but if you are patient and kind to them you'll have a better shot at cooperation.

I am confident in your abilities. Y'all got this under control, okay?