How to Make a Flanged Pillow Sham

Covering a pillow? A flanged pillow sham is a simple way to add style to your home decor. The sham is also easy care as it can be washed after the pillow insert is removed. This style of sham works on any size square or rectangular pillow. It's also a good choice for beginning sewers,as the technique is straightforward. If you can sew a straight seam, you can make a good looking flanged pillow sham. Here's how:

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pencil and Paper Pillow Fabric Measuring Tape or Yardstick Pins Scissors Sewing Machine Iron and Ironing Board Tailor's Chalk or Washable Fabric Marker

Plan it Out

1. 
   Plan Your Sham

   Get ready to draw a figure of your sham. Measure your pillow, length and width, and sketch a rectangle labeled with these measurements.

2. Decide how wide a flange you would like, and draw another, larger rectangle around the first, labeled with the flange measurement. Add a half-inch all around for seam allowances. Add up your numbers to get the length and width of the rectangles of fabric you need.

3. Double check your measurements. The advice to "measure twice, cut once" is good counsel.

Cut it Out

4. Cut one rectangle of fabric composed of the total length and width you calculated. This will be the top or front of the sham.

5. 

   The back of the sham is two smaller rectangles that overlap. Cut a rectangle six inches longer than the top piece, but the same width. Then cut it in half. Finish the raw edges for the opening.

6. Place the rectangles for the back of the sham, on top of the sham front rectangle, right sides together. Overlap the finished edges of the back pieces until the outside edges line up all around the sham. Pin in place.

Sew it Up

7. Sew completely around the rectangle, remembering that you allowed for a half-inch seam allowance. Now you have an oversized pillow sham. Turn it right side out and press.

8. Using a fabric marker or tailor's chalk, measure the width of your sham seam allowance in from the edges and mark the stitching line. Stitch all around the rectangle on the marked line.

9. Insert your pillow, and you are finished.

Tips & Warnings

• This method works well if you are using different fabrics for the front and back of the pillow. If you are using one fabric, make one long rectangle, finish the short ends, and fold the ends in for the overlap. This saves a couple of seams. If the overlap on the back tends to gap, as it might with a fluffy pillow, add a closure of some type there, such as a button and buttonhole, ties, or a snap.

References

• Pillows; Mary Elizabeth Johnson; 1978

Resources

• Make an Envelope Pillow
• How to Make a Pillow