pillow case + zipper

I would imagine that person is going to have to take apart the pillow to set the zipper in, which isn't a job I'd want to do.

You might consider buttons, as the regular open-ended pillow cases are generally longer than your pillow anyway. You would then want to find someone who has an automatic buttonholer. You would just button your pillows in.

You might consider snaps which are sold at fabric stores on little cards. A card of about 20 will cost you about what a zipper will cost. If you can sew a button onto something you can easily sew these snaps on and it will be much cheaper than either a zipper or buttons. Even if you can't sew at all someone could show you how to do this in one minute flat, or we'd be happy to tell you all the tricks.

-Charlotte

what to do wrote:

I'd avoid the zippers and use velcro. some strong velcro can be easily sewn inside the edge of the case. will also prevent waking up with 'zipperface' if you sleep on the wrong part of the pillow.

what to do wrote:

Huh? Why would you need to take the pillow apart to put a zipper in the pillowcase?

-------- I use shams, which can often be bought cheaply at discount places or found in Goodwills. I also sew them (if I buy a Queen sheet set, I will buy a coordinating single sheet to make Shams, because I keep four pillows on the bed. They don't need to be edged with Ruffles, but the level of decorative edging is up to you.

I think the zippers are overkill, in fact, you can cut one piece, overlap the ends a little, and sew the sides.

liv snipped-for-privacy@garbage.ziplink.net take out the garbage to reply...

If you can't beat your computer at chess try kickboxing.

She probably meant "take the pillowcase apart..."

I'd skip the zip and make a couple of buttonholes and buttons to prevent escaping pillows. I have some ready-made cases like that.

liz young

My wife is a seamstress, so I asked her. She says that the way she would to it would be to turn the pillowcase inside out, leaving the zipper open when sewing it in (so you can have access to the inside to turn it right side out.) No need to disassemble the pillow or the pillowcase.

This sounds good. The pillowcases are long enough that there would still be a flap to hide the zipper. How much would your wife charge for doing this?

I'm trying to stay away from snaps and buttons because a rough sleeper has torn the snaps off of duvet covers before.

Thanks for all the great responses!

I did mean take the pillowCASE apart, my apologies. Every zipper I've ever inserted open like that has been lopsided. I have high standards for my zippers. If your wife can do it nicely with that technique, more power to her.

I took a look at my commercial pillowcases with buttons. The buttonholes are part of a double layer of fabric at the opening. The holes only go through the inner layer of fabric, leaving the buttoned buttons between the double layer. Clear as mud, I suppose. If the pillowcases are already made up, there might not be enough fabric to do this double layer thing.

liz young

ROFLOL, Cea! This is hilarious. I can just imagine, having once slept with my oldest daughter, who slept like an imitation windmill. Not a restful night!

Karen Maslowski in Cincinnati

She said that she would probably charge about $5.00 plus a couple of bucks for the zipper.

After seeing the before-and-after on some of her alterations, including some heavily beaded evening wear, I have no reservations whatsoever.

Thanks to everyone for the great ideas. It sounds too pricey to install a zipper so I might try doubling up the pillow cases or affixing velcro with sewing tape.

You should check around for the cost of pillow covers. They are zippered pillowcases, basically. They are usually used underneath a pillow case, to protect the pillow, and they're usually very plain (most commonly plain white although I have some striped ones) but they'd do the job.

One of the truly frugal places in my area is a store called the Marburn Curtain Warehouse, where they sell all kinds of linens at discounted prices. I buy pillow covers there, two for $2. They're a bit more expensive if you buy them at regular stores.

Also, if you use a pillow cover on your pillow, as long as it isn't satin, it will probably keep your pillow from slipping out of the case. One reason the pillow slips out is that it's covered with something slippery - a cotton pillow cover with a cotton pillow case probably won't slip out because of the friction. I'm a very restless sleeper and I often wake up with a pillow or two thrown on the floor or off the end of the bed, but I've never had a pillow come out of its case.

Karen

Don't give up on Velcro around hair... there's a new "industrial" Velcro that I'm just starting to see available in fabric stores that has a very low hook, but holds just as well as "regular". I've got fine hair that snags on hook Velcro... but not on the new stuff. And the hook side is about 11 million times easier to sew than regular hook Velcro.

Kay Lancaster snipped-for-privacy@fern.com

I shall look out for it. It has yet to hit any of my regular fabric haunts...