My first attempt at sewing pillows with zippers!

Recently, I created an addition to my living room decor.  I made a few decorative pillows for the couches.  I've made several pillows before for my classroom, but I just stitched the hole closed.  I wanted these to be nicer, so I bought invisible zippers at Hobby Lobby.  After watching a quick tutorial online, I was ready to go.  Here's how I made my pillow covers with zippers.

First, Check the measurements of the pillow insert.  Mine was 14 x 28.  You'll want to buy zippers as close to your measurement as possible.  

Measure 1 inch past the pillow insert measurements.  I measured 15 x 29.

Pin the zipper to the "good side" of your fabric.

Next, you'll need to put your zipper foot on.  It's the one that has a skinnier foot.

Get the needle as close to the zipper as possible without actually sewing on top of the zipper.  I made that mistake, and pulling out stitches is not fun.

When going over the hardware, I kinda pulled it back to get the stitches as close as I could.

Next, pin the other side (good side) to the fabric, and repeat the above steps.  You should get this result.

Unzip the zipper, and then finish stitching up the other three sides.  It's important to unzip it first, because you will have no way to get inside it if you don't.  Insert your pillow insert, and you're done!  Here's my finished result:

They become so much more meaningful when you know you made them!