Our inspiration:
These Rosette Shams from Anthropologie. I fell in love with these and just knew I needed to make them. It gives that extra punch of femininity to my bed. I did consider painting polka dots on my fabric, but I have another pillow cover to make and that fabric has polka dots on it already, so I decided to keep mine a solid color. But if you want polka dots, by all means, paint some on with some fabric paint. Go hog wild! Have a blast!
You will need:
1.5 yards of fabric
Coordinating thread
Sewing machine
Standard presser foot
Cut: THESE DIMENSIONS ARE FOR A STANDARD SIZE PILLOW, 29" X 21".
Seam allowances are included with the measurements
Back of sham - 36 x 21.75 inches (cut 1)
Front middle section - 15.5 x 21.75 inches (cut 1)
Front ruched section - 7.25 x 42 inches (cut 2)
With your presser foot properly in place, adjust the ratchet gear feed plate to 6 and your machine's stitch length to 3. Weave your fabric through the cloth guide and begin sewing ruffles down the width of all the ruche sections. It will automatically sew a 1/4" seam. (Check out the
Sewing 101 series or the tutorial on
how to use the ruffler foot if you need more information.)
Here's a better idea of what you should have when you're done. You will ruffle the width of both sides on each cut you made. The sections will shrink considerably, about 1.5 times their original size, to about the same 21.75" width of your other pieces. Press all of your seams and ruffles, allowing them to lay as they will. You can see some of mine are a little haphazard. That's what you want.
Replace your ruffler foot with your standard presser foot and adjust your stitch length to 2. Right sides together, sew each of the ruche sections to either side of the the middle section with a 3/8" seam. Serge or zigzag (use the smallest stitch length possible) the edge of the seam to finish it off. I'm sorry I don't have a better picture of each section going together. Essentially, you should have the front of your pillow sham fully assembled.
Using a longer stitch length (I use 4), press the seam to the right (toward the ruche section) and straight stitch it down 1/8" from your seam line. This will give your panels more of a profesh look!
Now that we're talking about this being all professional and what not, remember perfection is not necessary in this next step. Find the middle of your ruche section and sew a straight line all the way down. Repeat this step on either side of the middle line you just sewed. We are trying to tame that poofy look you get with such large ruffled pieces, while keeping that professional appeal about it. That's the great thing about shabby chic styles, chic style without the clean boring lines. After all,
Perfection is Never an Option!
Cut your back piece vertically down the center. (Remember: it's longer in length than width; cut down the width.)
Pin one half to the left side of the front of your sham and sew it in place with a 3/8" seam allowance. Repeat on the right side with the other half of the back.
Press the seams and serge/zigzag each hem to finish them off. You should now have one
really long strip of fabric. We're going to close that off soon and shape our sham.
Fold the edge of the right side of the sham 1/2" and press. Fold it again, press again, then sew 1/4" inch from the edge of the hem.
Repeat the previous steps on the left side of the sham, but fold and press this side 1".
Now let's create our cases. Fold the left back piece over, right sides of the sham facing. This side should fall several inches to the right of the center of the sham. Then fold the right side of the back of the sham over. (Be sure you fold each side along the outside seam of each ruched section. I accidentally folded on the inside seam of one and couldn't quite figure out for a bit why my sham wasn't laying right.)
Pin all the away across the top and bottom and sew the seams into place with a 3/8" seam. Be sure the one inch hem is on the inside and the one half inch hem is on the outside before you do. This makes a difference when you go to turn it. Clip your corners, turn it right side out, and you're done. You've created beautiful shams. For a fraction of the cost. Congratulations!
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