How to Sew a Flanged Pillow Sham

A pillow sham is a quick way to decorate a room. Shams are meant to be decorative, which means, while they're often made of pretty fabric, they aren't always the most comfortable to have pressed against your face all night. They're also intended to hold their rectangular shape better than pillowcases.

The way shams work is that, after you make your bed in the morning, you simply shove the pillow (case and all) into the sham! It's a quick way to add extra elegance to any room. Pillow shams are also super easy to make.

• Fabric of your choosing (1 yard)
• Yarn
• Needle
• Straight pins
• Iron
• Carpenter's square or square cardboard

Use the above chart to find your pillow size and the measurement to cut your pillow sham fabric. Cut the length of the sham on the straight grain of the fabric, and be sure to cut squarely. Rotary cutting tools are one way to ensure that you are cutting squarely. If you don't have rotary cutting tools, find a carpenter's square or a squared corner of cardboard to make sure you are cutting the corner squarely.

• Make a narrow hem by folding under 1/4" and 1/4" again to the wrong side, on each narrow end. Stitch the hem in place.
• Mark in from each long edge, measuring in from each hemmed edge, end as indicated on the chart.
• Fold on the marks, right sides together so there is an overlap on the back, aligning the raw edges and keeping the fabric perfectly flat. Pin in place.
• Stitch both edge seams, using a 1/2" seam allowance. It is not necessary to put any seam finish on these seams, as they will be enclosed in the flanged area.
• Turn right side out.
• Press keeping all edges squared.

• In order to get a perfect 3" flanged edge, you must set a seam guide 3" horizontally and vertically away from the needle.
• Pin the back overlap flaps, to hold them in place. Keep pins out of the area 3" from the edge.
• Topstitch 3" from all pressed edge, pivoting with the needle down to turn the corners.
• Press the stitching to set the stitches.
• Place pillow in sham and enjoy.

• When cutting a square of any form, it is helpful to have a carpenter's square or rotary cutting tools.
• Make throw pillows for your bed that complement your shams.
• If you are working with a thin fabric, you may want to add interfacing the fabric to provide stiffness.
• Buy extra sheets to have pillow shams that match your bedding.