Textured Pillow Cover 18 Inch Crochet Pattern

A hand-crocheted pillow cover is the quickest way to make a sofa look cozy, and a basketweave cover is the one that gets compliments. The texture looks like woven wicker, which surprises people because it is only two stitches: the front post double crochet and the back post double crochet.

If those names sound scary, they are not. A post stitch is a double crochet that goes around the stem of the stitch below instead of the top. Working around the front pushes it toward you, working around the back pushes it away, and four of each in a row makes a raised square next to a sunk square.

What is inside

A seven-page PDF in US terms. It opens with the Basics and a short explanation of FPdc and BPdc, then gives the front panel row by row, the two back panels, a layer-and-seam assembly guide, a stitch-count check and troubleshooting.

The cover is about 17 x 17 inches so it fits an 18 inch pillow form snugly. You need about 450 yards of medium worsted yarn, a 5.5 mm hook, a pillow form and a tapestry needle. Gauge is 14 double crochets and 8 rows equal 4 inches in the basketweave.

Three things from the pattern

• Counts that add up. The foundation chain is 62. Row 1 is 60 double crochets, which is 15 blocks of 4. Every row after that has the same 60 stitches, and the front is 33 rows tall.
• A block plan. Rows 2 to 5 are pattern A, rows 6 to 9 are pattern B, and you keep alternating. Pattern A is rows 2-5, 10-13, 18-21 and 26-29, pattern B is 6-9, 14-17, 22-25 and 30-33.
• An envelope back with no zipper. Two panels of plain double crochet, 20 rows each, overlap by 7 rows in the middle. 20 + 20 - 7 = 33 rows, which matches the front exactly.

Finishing

Block the front panel before you assemble: pin it flat, mist it and let it dry so the blocks square up. Then layer the front with the right side up, lay the two back panels on top with right sides facing, pin, and single crochet around all four sides with 3 single crochets in each corner. That is 186 along the sides plus 12 at the corners, 198 stitches. Turn it right side out and push the corners out with a pencil.

The back is plain on purpose so it lies flat and the front gets all the attention. Machine wash the finished cover on gentle and dry it flat after removing the pillow form.

Get the pattern

A printable PDF, ad-free, with the counts already checked. Make one for the sofa and one for the friend who keeps asking.

Happy hooking,

Hannah