Polar Pals Panel Pillowcases

Yes, I make a lot of pillowcases! But this one is different because I made it from a panel. The WOF for the panel is sufficient for the 41" needed to wrap around the pillow; but the panel is only 24" wide and 27" is needed for the the length of the body of a standard pillowcase.

I would need to add 3" and do it in such a way that the seam was enclosed and did not make a lump under the face of the sleeper. I did not want any of that Princess and the Pea effect. So I used a flat-fell seam like is in jeans.

The fabric I used for the extension was the same I used for the border. I found a wavy stripe in my stash that went perfectly, of which I'd bought 1 yard just because I liked. I bought the panel at a totally different point in time from a different place. It is not odd (odd = weird) that they matched because they were from the same fabric line; but it is odd (odd = funny) that I was not aware they coexisted in my stash.

Once I was inspired to make the pillowcase, I decided that I needed a second panel so the top and bottom could be showcased on two sides of a pillowcase pair. I found and bought a second panel on Etsy. Here are the two panels made up into two pillowcases. The top of the panel is on the left pillowcase; the bottom of the panel is on the right pillowcase.

A subtle yellow dot print perked up the pillowcase as a accent strip. I chose not to insert an accent strip at the flat-fell seam so there would be no bump there. Similarly I opted not to make the extension larger and the border smaller to attain symmetry. Why I did not do that was the first question my husband asked. I explained that offsetting the flat-fell seam to make a longer extension moves the seam further toward the center of the pillow, possibly under the face of the sleeper. Asymmetry also makes it easier to identify which end is the opening for inserting the pillow.

If the sleeper does choose to make that grey stripe line up, the pillows can be turned to match either the tops of the two panels or the bottoms.

I knew I bought that panel in a moment of weakness just because I thought it was so cute. Now that I have found a way to justify those type of impulse purchases, I am going to keep my eye out for other panels that will lend themselves to pillowcases like these. Hmm... guess I am going to have to buy two panels instead of one. Perhaps my friends at Cooking up Quilts MCM #176 will agree with this philosophy.