You can quickly learn how to make pillow shams in two easy steps. Gone are the days where you have to buy a pillow sham because you can create a unique look for the bedroom or couch. After all, shams are there to improve the aesthetic of your room.
Remember that you can make pillow inserts to achieve a fuller and better-looking pillow. But why not step it up and cover your pillows with a sham you created yourself. You can have a separate pillowcase for sleeping and a sham for decorative purposes.
How To Make Pillow Sham
Step #1. Designing
Measure
The first step in making your pillow sham is to measure your pillow and design how you want the overall look to end up. You must get a well-fitting sham and determine how much fabric you use and what fabric you want for the arrangement. However, it’s also common to have some variation in the measurements because you also have to consider the pillow sham’s flanges.
Cut the front and back panels
After you have the dimensions, cut three fabric pieces, which will be your front and two back pieces. Remember that the back pieces will be your height and width, and both will have a hemmed side each. Fold one side over the edge at around an inch twice and iron and pin it into place.
Step #2. Sewing
Hem the edges
Now that you have the hem edge, you can sew 1/8 inches from it to secure it into place. Do this on both back panels to end up with a single hem on one side. You should be ready to construct your pillow sham by placing the front fabric piece right side up and the back pieces right side down onto it with their raw edges aligned and the hemmed edges toward the center overlapping around 8 inches.
Pin and stitch around the sham
You can make sewing more comfortable by pinning around the sham with the back panels overlapping. Then, sew around the sham with half an inch of the seam until all sides are closed. Depending on what’s comfortable, you can sew continuously at the corners or stop and start another stitch for every corner.
Clip and flip
Finally, clip the sham corners to create a better look before flipping the sham out. You might be wondering why this guide recommended sewing all around and not leaving an opening. Remember that you made an envelope opening by overlapping the back panels, so you’ll use this opening instead.
How to add flanges on a pillow sham?
Depending on the look you’re going for, you may or may not add flanges on your pillow sham. If you choose to add them, you can simply pin the flanges around the pillow and then sew them in place. A useful tip is to iron your pillow sham first to help you see the seams easily.
Having a 3-inch seam allowance is a common way to sew the flanges for a formal finished look. And if you don’t want noticeable stitches, you can start and finish sewing at the center of the pillow sham’s bottom edge.
How To Decorate With Pillow Shams
There are three factors to consider when decorating with pillow shams. Below is a quick explanation to help you get started. However, don’t forget to account for your bed size and select the amount and type of pillows that will suit it.
Patterns and textures
Making pillow shams yourself means you can choose the fabric design and texture. Furthermore, you can have the shams with flanges, cording, or leave them knife-edged to suit the overall look you’re going for. You can play with a variety or have a more simple and monochromatic look as well.
Sizes and shapes
Besides patterns and textures, your shams will also come in different sizes and shapes. According to the pillows you have, you can experiment with the placement of king, Euro, or standard pillows. After all, you can use shams on your decorative and bed pillows or have your pillows for sleeping behind throw pillows.
Arrangement
A common way to arrange shams is to place your bed pillows against the headboard and the largest sham pillows in front of them. Then, you can set the smaller pillows in the next layer. At this point, you want to have the fluffiest sham pillows at the front and arrange them to complement the room.
Conclusion
Do you want to experiment with your room’s theme using your pillows? If you learn how to make pillow shams, you can easily customize pillow covers and add variety to your room. Start by measuring your pillow and cut three fabric pieces for the pillow sham.
These pieces will be your front panel and two back panels. Then, hem the edges of the back panels and pin them while overlapping. The back panel will be your envelope closure, so you can pin and sew all around the pillow sham.
Finally, flip the sham out and add flanges if necessary. Overall, you don’t need to be an expert tailor to make a pillow sham because it only takes two steps to create one. Never be afraid to get your hands in sewing pillow accessories, and impress your friends and family with customized pillow shams!