D.I.Y. Project, Home Accessories: How To Make A 24-inch Patchwork Euro Pillow Sham With Ruffle
DIY Project, Home Accessories:
Patchwork projects are a great way to use up remnants of fabric that you have on hand, and they make great additions to any room. This patchwork pillow sham is a project that anyone with basic sewing skills can make. With just a few hours of sewing, you can have a beautiful pillow to add to your bedding, or to use as a floor pillow in your family room.
Project Cost:
The cost on this project varies widely depending on the fabric selected.
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Materials:
1. Remnants of twelve different fabrics, each at least 8″ x 11″,
2. One yard of fabric for ruffle,
3. One yard of fabric for back of pillow,
4. 3 to 5 buttons for back closure,
5. Thread,
6. Straight pins,
7. Scissors,
8. Sewing machine,
9. Tape measure,
10. Fray Check (optional).
Part 1: How To Make The Pillow Sham Front
The fabrics that work best for this patchwork euro sham are heavier fabrics, such as remnants of upholstery fabric, decorator cottons, etc. I don’t advise using thin polyester fabrics, although if you have one that you really want to use, you can back it with iron-on interfacing to give it more body.
Cut a piece of cardstock paper to 7.25 inches by 10.25 inches to use as a pattern to cut out 12 rectangles of fabric.
If any of the fabrics fray easily, I recommend using Fray Check around the edges of the cut rectangles.
Now determine the arrangement of the fabric pieces, placing them in four columns of three rectangles. When you’ve determined the arrangement, sew the pieces in each column together using a 5/8-inch seam.
After the pieces are sewn together, iron the seams so that the pieced fabrics lie flat.
Next pin the columns together.
Stagger the seams 3 inches, as shown below.
When all of the pieces are sewn together and ironed, it should look something like this (hopefully without the water marks…my iron has issues).
Using a straight edge, mark where the extra fabric needs to be cut off of the top and the bottom so that all of the edges are straight.
With the excess fabric cut away, you should end up with a square that is (or is close to) 25.25 inches X 25.25 inches.
Next, cut strips for the ruffle that are 6.25 inches wide. You’ll need at least 215 total inches of fabric strips, but you can use more if you want the ruffle fuller.
Sew the fabric strips end-to-end until you have one huge continuous loop. Iron the seams open.
Now starting at a seam, fold the fabric in half lengthwise and iron in the fold. Continue this all the way around.
When you’ve ironed all the way around, it should look like this…
Next, put a basting (gathering) thread along the raw edges of the ruffle fabric. Be sure to use several gathering threads, and not one continuous gathering thread. I like to keep my gathering threads to about a 24-inch maximum in length.
With your gathering threads in place, mark the ruffle fabric in four equal sections and pin the ruffle fabric onto the pillow face fabric at the corners. You’re pinning this with the raw edges together, and onto the front (right side) of the pillow front. Also be VERY sure that the ruffle fabric isn’t twisted!!
Now using the gathering threads, gather the ruffle fabric until it fits perfectly along the edge of the pillow front, and pin in place.
Continue gathering and pinning until the ruffle is in place all the way around the pillow front.
Sew the ruffle to the pillow front with a 5/8-inch seam all the way around. You can see that my ruffle fabric frayed quite a bit as I ruffled the fabric. I wait until it’s sewn on and the pins are removed before trimming the threads.
With the ruffle sewn on, check the ruffle all the way around to be sure it looks right. It’s sometimes easy to get sections caught in the seam that shouldn’t be there. If that happens, simply use your stitch ripper to remove the stitching in that section, arrange the fabric carefully, and re-sew.
At this point, you have a finished pillow front with a pretty ruffle.
Coming tomorrow–Part 2: Sewing the envelope pillow back.
Helpful Hints:
Don’t be too deliberate in your selection of fabrics. Some of the best patchwork pillows I’ve seen have been made with fabrics that I probably would have never put together.
Take your time with the ruffling. It can be very frustrating and time-consuming, but rushing it and getting your ruffle caught in the seam is even more frustrating.
Variations:
1. If you don’t like the look of a ruffled edge, and prefer a cleaner look, try adding a notched flange like the one on this pillow.
Have you tried this d.i.y. project?
I’d love to see your results! Send your pictures to Kristi at addicted2decorating[at]live.com
Did you like this project? If so, share it!
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