Easy Pillow Shams in 30 Minutes

 

 

 

 

 

I have never been much of a seamstress, and when I say that, I mean that I still need the manual to thread the needle.  Thank goodness for manuals.  So I am usually looking for pillows to buy instead of looking for fabric.  This last month, I got adventurous for my kids playroom and made some pillow shams.  I guess because it was for their playroom and they didn’t have to be perfect, I wasn’t as worried to attempt it.  I started looking into different pillow covers and there are a lot to choose from!

I originally wanted to make a sham with a zipper, but time was not on my side.  So, I shifted to the envelope pillow sham and BOY AM I  GLAD.  These are soooo easy and super fast.  Being that I don’t sew, it was amazing that I had these measured, cut and sewn in 30 minutes.  I didn’t sew the pillows above, I wanted to include 3 different styles of pillow shams.  Above, the yellow one is an envelope style sham.  Usually, I put the fold in the back, but I thought this was cute to sew on some buttons and make it part of the design.  The gray pillow sham is not removable, so it was stuffed and stitched together.  The other has a zipper.  I think I need lessons on zipper stitching before I go there.

So, here are a few of the pillows that I made.

 

 

 

 

 

I had some throw pillows that I wasn’t using and they were in a bin in our storage area, so I decided that I would just use those. These pillow shams have 4 seams.  That is all.  The method to making these shams is to make a pocket that you slip the pillow into, and there is no zipper.

Here are the 6 steps to making these crazy easy pillow shams:

1. Measure enough fabric to wrap the pillow (width), unless it is square, and then just pick a side.  Overlap the fabric by about 6 inches.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Hem each side of the fabric (not the top or bottom, just the sides that are overlapping.)  Hem by folding the fabric over 2 times, and use a simple stitch.

3. Turn the fabric inside out, and wrap the fabric around the pillow, overlapping the ends (6 inches) that have been hemmed.

 

 

 

 

 

4. Use the pillow to measure and pin the top or bottom.  Pin it to be very tight, as pillow shams look cleaner and neater if they are all filled out, unless you are going for a different look.

5. Sew the top seam, removing the pins as you go.

6. Sew the bottom seam, also removing the pins as you go.  Turn the pillow cover right side out.  Put the pillow in the cover, with the overlap in the back.  This is a great style pillow cover, because you can remove the pillow and wash the cover and you don’t have to mess with sewing a zipper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only taking 30 minutes to complete… I think I could get into this sewing thing.

You can get great fabric at JoAnn Fabric, Hobby Lobby and there are a lot of online fabric outlets that have great choices and great prices.