How to stuff pillow shams & make the flanges stand up!

Pillow Sham with flanges standing up

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If you are looking for a decorative way to accent your bed, pillow shams are a great option. However, an improperly stuffed pillow sham will look rather frumpy and fail to give you a true decorative accent. Here are some helpful hints to follow when stuffing your pillow sham:  

How to stuff pillow shams & make the flanges stand up

#Video

How to properly stuff a sham and keep the flanges standing up.

People ask us frequently how to get the flanges on their pillow shams to stand up. In this video we offers some tips on how to accomplish this, as well, how ...

#Video How to properly stuff a sham and keep the flanges standing up.

The video was uploaded on 21/10/2014.

You can view the video here.

The video lasts for 2 minutes and 12 seconds.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/XyPZXLON_6M

Time Required: 1 Minute
Equipment required: Pillow Sham with flanges & Feather Pillow Insert

Fold The Pillow

Fold the pillow in half (lengthwise) and insert it in the sham. This actually accomplishes two things:  

  • It makes it much easier to place the insert into the pillow opening.
  • It will not create any strain on the sewn seams of the pillow sham, which actually occurs when you shake the pillow all the way down from the opening. 

The easiest way to stuff a pillow sham 

It should be noted that a good portion of pillow shams come with decorative flanges. However, floppy flanges on pillow shams do not have a very appealing look at all. Here are some professional tips that will help you to get the flanges to stand up.

  • A feather pillow is the best filler to use in a sham.
    • Feather pillows are very inexpensive.
    • Feather is free flowing, which means that feather pillows will fill out the corners of a pillow more adequately than other types of inserts.
    • Polyester fill pillows are notorious for bunching up and fail to fill the corners of the sham the same way a feather pillow does.
    • If you are currently using or planning to use old under-stuffed pillows, consider trashing them. Without a full pillow, your sham will appear to be lifeless and limp. 

Direct Edge Of Pillow Towards Seam

Once you have placed the pillow in the pillow sham, turn the sham upside down (with the opening - facing up). Hold the sham from the opening end and then shake it back and forth. This will drive the pillow’s top edge to what will be the top seam of the edge when it is placed on the bed.

  • If you happen to notice a gap between the top edge of the pillow and the top seam of the sham, then you have a problem. This occurs because the soft fabric of the sham folds over and will not stand up. 

Shaking the pillow insert to the top of the sham

Flip Pillow & Set Corners

Using one hand, grab hold of the excess fabric at the opening edge of the sham. Then, flip the pillow so that it is right side up and set in place. Finish up by setting your corners on edge.  

The best way to stuff a pillow sham 

After your pillow insert in placed in the sham set the corners

It is not uncommon for the flange to still flop over. If this happens, gently push down in the center of the top edge of the pillow and the sham. This will create a valley in the pillow sham and also give it some rigidity. 

  • Ironing and starching your pillow sham also helps get more body in the sham.
 
 

If the pillow flanges flop, make an indent on the top edge of the sham

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