In 2024 Madam Sew is sewing pillowcases for Ryan’s Case For Smiles! Our efforts will help this organization to deliver smiles to children. Below, you will find a full tutorial and "how to" video for completing a cheerful and whimsical pillowcase for a child in the hospital. This is a project that anyone, including beginners with basic sewing skills!

We know our sewing and quilting community enjoys sewing for different charity organizations. Three years ago we came together and sewed 1000 sanitary pads for refugees and women in poverty with the Pachamama project. We are certain we will do the same for sewing pillowcases for Ryan's Case For Smiles!!

Why did we choose Ryan's Case for Smiles? Because we think we can all make a difference by sewing something as easy as a colorful pillowcase. By giving a child a whimsical pillowcase, Ryan's Case For Smiles helps to reduce the fear and stress associated with a hospital stay and reminds them they are not defined by their illness. Receiving a beautiful and fun pillowcase gives the children an uplifting boost. To learn more about the project, Ryan Case For Smiles, click through to The MadamSew Sewing for Smiles project page. This project will run through August 2024.

How many pillowcases can we, as a warm sewing community, make in 6 months? For every pillowcase you send us, we will donate one dollar to Ryan's Case for Smiles up to $1500! They will be very grateful for your help!

UPDATE: As we closed the POBOX, the Madam Sew challenge is over and it was a success! We are still receiving pillowcases, the counter is showing 750 (end of August 2024)!

If you still want to donate to this cause and sew for the children in hospitals in the US, you can find a local chapter on the Ryan Case for Smiles website and send or bring your pillowcases to them.

I found some fabric that I thought would make a kid smile and I started assembling them to make my first pillowcase. Then I noticed that the organization likes the hot dog method, sometimes also called the burrito method of sewing a pillowcase. This was a new approach to me that I never heard of. The good news is that it is amazingly easy to follow. So let’s follow their lead!

Let’s brighten a child’s day together!

Making this pillowcase is very simple and straightforward. You just need some basic sewing tools like fabric shears or a rotary cutter (+ mat and ruler), a sewing machine, an iron, pins or clips, fabric, and matching thread.

A standard pillowcase is about 30 by 20 inches.

The goal is to find cheerful fabric for children ages newborn - 18 years old. When selecting fabric, ask yourself, would this make a child smile?

• Fabric must be 100% cotton
• Choose colorful and cheerful fabrics with kid-friendly designs or designs that would speak to pre-teens. The age group is 1-18 years old. Holidays such as Valentine's, birthday, Halloween, Christmas, and Hannukah are great!
• Please avoid:
  
  • Red fabric (color dye tends to run)
  • Flannel fabric
  • Fabric with glitter or skulls
  • Any fabric with religious themes or words
• Prewash all fabrics that are used, please do not use scented detergents, dryer sheets or fabric softeners

The pattern we are using consists of two fabric pieces, both 100% cotton. The smallest fabric piece is used for the double sided band. You’ll need about a ⅓ yard of this fabric. The bigger fabric piece (in my pillowcase this is the one with a print) is for the main body. For this one you need 3/4 of a yard of fabric. These are the actual sizes you will need to cut:

Main Body                           40 ½ by 26 ½ inches

Double-Sided Band         10 ½ by 40 ½ inches

If you are using fabric with a directional design, make sure to cut the fabric the right way. The 40 inch edge is the side seam, the 26 inch edge is the top or bottom. This is a little tip, out of experience :-)... I cut the fabric with the little lions the wrong way. So, make sure your design is facing the 26 inch edge and not the 40 inches edge. You don’t want to have the design facing sideways. The blue fabric with little robots is multidirectional so direction doesn’t matter as much. I will go and get some new lion fabric next week.

Let’s make a pillowcase!  

To make this tutorial I made two pillowcases, one with blue fabric with little robots and one with soft pink fabric with lions. For the band I used the same fuschia cotton fabric. Some steps will be shown with the lion fabric, others with the robots.

Whether you are using one or two types of fabrics, you need a big piece for the main body and a smaller one for the double-sided band:

Main Body         40 ½ by 26 ½ inches

Band                   10 ½ by 40 ½ inches

Position the long side of the main body on top of the long side of the band piece (40 ½ inch), right sides facing each other, making sure that the edges line up. These two edges have the same length.

Grab the main body piece that is furthest from these two matched long edges and roll it up towards them. Stop rolling a couple of inches away from the edge.

Fold the fabric of the band that still lies on your table over the rolled fabric and position the edge of this band on top of the two layers of fabric and line up all of the edges. Now pin or clip these 3 layers together. If you are not sure about this, check out the video, where you can see these steps much better.

This is your “hot dog”. The band is the bun and the rolled up main piece is the hot dog.

Now sew the three layers together on the long edge (40 ½ inches) with ½ inch seam allowance. Remove pins or clips as you sew. Be careful to catch the hot dog roll in this seam.

You can finish this seam with your favorite method for managing raw edges if you want, but this seam will be totally enclosed, so you can skip serging or zigzagging for now.

Now pull the “hot dog” out of its “bun”. Pull the band piece over the main body piece that is rolled up. You are pulling the main fabric in one direction and the band fabric in the other direction.

As a result you will have the band fabric sewn onto the main fabric with a completely hidden seam. Iron this seam flat.

Fold the 40 ½ inches edge in half, both the band and main body piece, right sides facing. Pin or clip together and sew the two remaining seams: one seam is opposite the band and the other one is the one across from the fold.

Finish the edge of these two seams with your preferred method. You can use pinking shears, a zigzag stitch, an overcast stitch with your regular sewing machine, a serger, or a french seam. The french seam is definitely the cleanest finish, but it will also take the most time. If you want to use this technique, you need to sew your first seam wrong sides facing instead of right sides.

I finished the seams with my serger. Don’t just cut off the thread ends of a serged edge but hide them in the serged stitching with a hand needle. If you used another way of finishing the edges, cut off all little thread ends now.

Make sure you remove all pins!

Turn your pillowcase inside out, give it another press and it is ready for donation!

Last step: take a picture of the pillowcases you made and share it in the Madam Sew Facebook Group, on your Instagram (#sewingforsmiles) or email it to us at(hello@madamsew.com) to inspire others!

Send all pillowcases to the Madam Sew address before September 1, 2024. And remember, we will donate $1 for every pillowcase we receive (maximum of $1500 US dollars) to Ryan's Case for Smiles in September 2024.

After this date, send them to Ryan Case for Smiles directly. We will close the Madam Sew POBOX.

Let’s use our favorite craft and skills to put some smiles on children’s faces!

An
Blogging for Madam Sew

PDF Download of this Madam Sew Pillowcase Tutorial
PFD Download of the Ryan's Case For Smiles Instructions

If you want to check out other pillowcase tutorials, click on the links below, but know that these are not advised by Ryan's Case For Smiles and are more for decorative purposes.

• How to make an accent pillow cover
  
• How to make quilted pillow with a french seam
• Learn how to make a quilted pillow cover, there are 3 parts:

• • Quilted Pillow Cover Part 1 
  • Quilted Pillow Cover Part 2 
    
  • Quilten Pillow Cover Part 3