TUTORIAL: Decorative Sham

my friend needed some help decorating her daughters room before her twins arrive, so i dusted off my sewing machine ; ) i've had my eye on this sham from pottery barn kids for a while now. this was my chance to make my own version. my kids have already put in their orders for one. so i decided, why not make it into a tutorial!

there are 3 different ways you can choose to finish the back.

1. use a zipper (thats what i did on my back)

2. do a envelope opening on the back

3. leave a space at the bottom of the pillow that is left unstitched. stuff and stitch up the hole.

depending on which one you choose, the instructions will vary slightly

*1. cut 2 pieces of fabric 13"x17".

1 for the front

1 for the back (you can see from the pic that i've already sewn in the zipper)

*2. print desired letter off on the computer. place on window so that the letter is backwards.

*3. trace the letter using heat n bond lite paper. (or your favourite iron on adhesive)

*4. ruffly cut out letter and iron onto desired fabric.

*5. trim around letter

*6. remove paper backing.

*7. place letter in desired location. iron into place.

*8. add a decorative stitch around the outer edge.

*9. using the same technique as you did for the letter (steps 4-8). add any decorative pieces to the sham. i decided to cut out designs from the fabric that i was using for this sham.

*10. lay the top of the sham and the bottom of the sham facing each other. to round the corners use a round edge (i used a bowl) and trace around each corner with a pencil. trim around the corners with scissors. (make sure both layers stay in place while you cut)

*11. cut ric rac to size.

*12. place the ric rac inside the 2 layers. make sure the ric rac is slightly in from the edge and evenly placed. PIN all three layers together. allow a little excess ric rac in the corners so that they don't pull when turned rightside out. i pleated mine slightly.

*13. stitch around the sham. turn inside right and stuff!

any way you do it, it'll look FABULOUS!

it was a fun project to make! if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.