How to Make a Ruffled Pillow Sham

Woke up bright and early this morning to start sewing!  I decided that Baby Cate's bedroom needed peachy pink pillow shams instead of ivory linen.  So, after visiting my new favorite (cheap) fabric store in Covington, Georgia (called Ocho) to get my fabric (2.99) a yard, I had to get busy on these this a.m.

Now,,,,for one thing, ruffled shams are pretty labor intensive.  The other thing is that you can't just "whip em up".  And, they aren't really all that easy to make.  Hopefully these instructions will help you when and IF you decide to make some.  Personally, I'd just pay someone if I didn't already know how to sew.  

So, let's get started...

First lay your fabric out flat.  I bought 6 yards for 3 24" pillow shams

I cut mine 25" square and also lined mine because the fabric is a lightweight pima cotton

I cut six pieces  duh, you need a front and a back

find something to write on to measure what you will need for a ruffle

I messed up.  After cutting one piece of the ruffle 6" wide, I decided I needed 8".  Cut your ruffle pieces on the bias like this

this is how you sew the seams together for the ruffle.  I ended up with 4 pieces that needed sewing together

follow the pin lines and sew as shown

trim the seam and press open

it should look like this.  If it doesn't you've messed up....oops

now the ruffle should be a circle.  Fold the piece in half and press. And the ruffle should be 4" wide.  Stitch the folded piece completely around the circle (the edge) to keep the ruffle flat when you ruffle the fabric.

Now, if you are lucky enough to have this contraption, (a ruffler) use it.  If not, sew two lines of gathering stitches to be pulled up to make the ruffle

this is what the ruffler does!

now pin the edges to the right side of the front side of the pillow and pin completely around

After stitching, pin the corners like sew (no pun intended) to keep the corner ruffle from getting caught when you sew the back side of the pillow on

place the back side (right sides together) and turn it over

pin all the way around leaving about an 18" area that you won't stitch

that 18" area will be where you stuff the pillow form.  Following the stitch from the ruffle, stitch all the way around the pillow leaving the opening free 

there it is!

trim all seams and clip corners.  Turn and press

there's the opening for the pillow form.  Stuff that pillow right in there.  This will be quite cumbersome, but you can do it!

see! now either stitch it closed with the sewing machine or by hand.  I choose the sewing machine but it can be tricky!

enjoy a beautiful sunrise!

One down and two to go.  I will say the first one is more fun than the other two......

Gotta get back to the sewing machine!!!

Have a great day y'all!

kb

oh wait, here is another piece of fabric I found at Ocho.  Isn't this adorable?  3.99 a yard. (it was however a 2 and 7/8" remanent.  Perfect for a pleated balloon shade. If I get the go ahead from J, I'll start on it for her bathroom.