As they used to say on The A-Team, “I love it when a plan comes together!” This was very much the case with my latest sewing project. A small cylindrical pillow that I use for my back had a pillowcase but the zipper broke. So I decided to sew a new one (sans zipper, since they scare me—to sew anyway).

For projects like this, I tend to do a lot of thinking. Not necessarily a lot of sketching or creating of patterns. Just thinking. For this project, I thought about how I was going to make the ends round; about how I wanted to close the case; about how much bulkiness I’d be able to live with.

This past weekend, I put all my thoughts in motion. I used a tape measure to measure the pillow’s length (and added about 1 inch) and circumference (and added about 7 inches).