It’s All In The Details

Welcome to the 307th Metamorphosis Monday!

Greetings! How was your weekend? Do anything fun? I finished up a bit of my Christmas shopping and was happy to get that done.

So, you know how I’ve been working on curing my floppy-flange problem? lol That sounds really weird, doesn’t it? For anyone who missed that post, I’ve been working on improving the appearance of the pillows for my winter bedding. I have some lazy pillows on my hands as you can see in this picture below. The flange or decorative edge part around the tartan pillows shown below, won’t stand up worth a flip.

Comparison Between Feather Down Euro Sham and Poly-Filled Euro Sham

 

Since I saw what a huge difference it made for the green-plaid, Devonshire Euro shams across the back when I filled them with feather/down inserts in the correct size, (the bigger pillow shown below) I decided to go for it and ordered the inserts for the other shams on the bed, too. (Previous post showing inserts for Euro shams can be read here: Feather/Down Insert For Euro Shams)

28 x28 Euro Sham Compared to 26 x 26 Euro Sham

 

So here’s how all the pillows look now with the feather/down inserts inside. I know it’s hard to see since they’re a bit shorter, but the new inserts worked wonders for the cream matelasse shams (they’re behind the red shams). They stand up really well now, much better than before. The pillows I’d had inside those before were the biggest “standard” pillow I was able to find years ago when I first bought the shams.

Floppy Pillow Flange Solution 11

 

I had a good laugh when the new inserts arrived for the matelasse shams. I had forgotten that I had stuffed a towel inside them at some point, in an effort to better fill out the sham. Is that not sad or what? Ha! I had no idea back then that I could have inserts made to fit the shams so I was making-do the best I could with a towel to beef things up.

Pillow Sham Insert Ideas

 

As mentioned, after I saw how much better the Euro shams across the back looked with the proper size feather down inserts, I went back to the company that made them (Bed of Roses) to order inserts for the cream matelasse shams and for the red tartan shams.

They had the size I needed for the cream shams in stock, but they didn’t have the size I needed for the tartan shams. I e-mailed them and they replied back saying they would be happy to make them. Those took about 10 days longer to arrive since they had to be custom-made to the size I needed , but they didn’t charge me anymore for those than their normal price.

As you can see in the picture below, it did help the red shams a lot, they are much better.

Tartan Winter Bedding

 

They are still a bit floppy and I think that’s because the tartan fabric isn’t stiff like the matelasse fabric and isn’t light-weight like the Devonshire (Euro sham) fabric. Instead, the red tartan fabric is quite heavy and not at all stiff, so it just flops down under the weight of the fabric.

Plaid Pillow Shams For Fall and Winter

 

But they do look a whole lot better than they did before with the old inserts that didn’t fill them out properly at all!

Comparison Between Feather Down Euro Sham and Poly-Filled Euro Sham

 

I will probably still have some “washed felt” (or whatever it is that seamstresses use) added inside the flange of the red tartan shams since they could still use a bit of help, but the feather/down inserts totally fixed the issue I was having with the Euro shams across the back and the bagginess I was seeing with the cream matelasse shams.

Floppy Pillow Flange Solution

 

I’m happy to share a link to the name of the company I’ve been purchasing all the inserts from since I’ve ordered from them 3 times now and have been very pleased with the quality of the pillow inserts and the service I’ve received each time. I think their shipping cost is really reasonable too ($4.49 for two inserts) because these pillow inserts are heavy! I’ve ordered all my pillow inserts from Bed of Roses on Amazon. That’s not an affiliate link and I’m not connected or affiliated with them in any way, just happy to share their name/link, in case it’s helpful.

Tartan Bedding

 

 

Tip: If you decide to order their feather/down inserts and don’t see the size you need, email them and tell them what you need and they’ll make it for you.

Also, be sure and read all the info for each of the pillow inserts they sell, because I’ve learned through this process of ordering for my bed, usually the pillow insert needs to be a couple of inches bigger than the actual sham. So if you’re not sure what size to order, email them and ask. That’s what I did for the tartan shams and I’m glad I did. That extra few inches really does make a difference in how the sham looks in the end.

Bedskirt Update:
In case you’re wondering about the bedskirt, I have a seamstress coming out to measure for that in January, so hopefully I’ll have a real bedskirt by late January or early February. If you’re new to reading BNOTP, check out this previous post for that to make sense: Dressing The Bed In Tartan.

Looking forward to the other Before and Afters for this Met Monday!

Met Monday

 

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In order to link up, you’ll need to include a link in your MM post back to the party so the other participants will have an opportunity to receive visits from your wonderful blog readers.

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Only link up Before and After posts that are home, gardening, crafting, painting, sewing, cooking, DIY related.

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Please do not link up more than 2 Before and Afters each week. Thanks!


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Comments

  1. Susan, thank you so much for the party. I love your red tartan plaid bed ensemble, and that little stocking pillow? Oh. My. Gosh. ♥ Hope you have a wonderful week!

  2. Absolutely adore the plaid and the Federalist Bulls eye mirror over the bed is gorgeous! Thanks for the link party!

  3. Great resolution to your problem.It can be frustrating trying to get pillows to sit and look just right.Your bed looks so cozy and inviting! Thanks so much for hosting!

  4. The bed looks great with all of the red and plaid. How funny about the towel. I did that on a couch that had floppy back cushions!!
    Hope you have a wonderful week before Christmas and that it isn’t too stressful!!

  5. Your pillows look great, funny how a simple thing like a floppy flang can just drive one crazy! Love the pillow with the Christmas stockings! Thanks for the Monday fun~

  6. Susan… pillows can be so frustrating. My best looking flange pillows for the bed were some I made myself. One year I bought bedding at an outlet. But, as usual… everything was not available. There were plenty of beautifully lined drapes available for a great price, so I bought lots of those to make pillows and accessories for my room. The fabric was the perfect weight and because they were lined… I made them up with their lining which gave them a very lux look because of all the extra fabric. I think your idea of adding to wool is a good idea… but I would check at the fabric store for another stiffener which would be less costly and give them the look you want. Regardless… I love your bedding. It gives such a cozy look for winter and the Christmas stocking pillow is too cute!
    Merry Christmas!!

    • Thanks, Diane! Do you know what folks normally use to go inside the flange? A friend suggested “washed felt” but I’m not really sure what that is. I think I’ll probably asked the person who will be making my bedskirt to add something to the pillow flange. I don’t want it to stand up too stiffly where they look ridiculous, but the corners of the flange completely flop over and I do want to just give them a bit more “body” if you know what I mean. The inserts helped a lot, thankfully. You are so smart to make your own bedding that way. I’m having to use tablecloths for the bedskirt. Since I’m going to have the bedskirt made in triple fullness, my sewing machine would never handle it, so I am going to have a professional seamstress make the bedskirt.

  7. Thanks so much for the party!!

    Hugs,
    Deb

  8. Hi Susan and what a lovely Christmasy bed! I love the plaid and am seeing so much of it this year. Hope your Christmasing is going well and thank you always for hosting your party.
    be a sweetie,
    Shelia 😉

  9. Love your cozy plaid bedding Susan and your sweet stocking pillow too!

  10. That’s so funny about the towel 🙂 Your bedroom is so inviting and warm for the winter months! Thanks for hosting the party!

  11. Well duh! I have never thought of ordering special pillows for my shams! No wonder mine look so limp. Thanks for the link, and thank you for the party. Your pillows look great, and I love that little Christmas stocking pillow.

    • Laurie, I had no idea they made feather/down inserts for shams. They work so much better than the poly-filled kind that don’t get into the corners of the sham. Amazing the difference these things make for shams.

  12. I love, love, love your plaid pillows! Thank you for hosting- I just linked up. Merry Christmas!

  13. I love your plaid Christmas bed, the little stockings pillow is the icing on the cake! Thanks for all the info about the pillow inserts and for hosting us every week!

  14. Your bedding looks simply gorgeous Susan – you have such beautiful taste!
    Thanks so much for the party – have yourself a wonderful week!
    Hugs
    Suzan

  15. Susan, I would probably have just opened those shams up at the stitching around the edge and added a stiff interfacing to them. I make all my own, but haven’t had any that wouldn’t stand up with just spray starch. I have made my own inserts but it is really messy with feathers:-) Love your tartan bedding!! Thanks for hosting!!

  16. Thanks so much for hosting, Susan. I love that plaid! Have a great week. 🙂

  17. Once again we are on the same page. I love tartan too ~ especially at Christmas. We have the same Bull’s Eye mirror. Mine is in the family room. Thanks for the party Susan!

    Big Texas Hugs,
    Susan and Bentley

  18. Susan,
    oh, dear friend, your red tartan plaid bedding looks amazing!!!
    Hm~m~m. . .I wonder if there is something similar to the plastic
    inserts that go into a man’s button down collar for a pillow sham???
    I agree. . .they look fuller with the switch of insert!
    Great information. . .did you know I’m getting ready to add
    new decor pillows for our couch and have been reading this same topic???
    Thanks for hosting Metamorphosis Monday each week!!!
    Love your blog!!!
    Fondly,
    Pat

  19. Susan I LOVE your plaid bedding!!

  20. Oh yeah! I’m dig’n on this bedding, looks so pretty Susan, I do enjoy visiting inside your lovely home. Thanks for sharing these lovely pic’s. You know I often wonder if you could just start at the front door walk inside and let us enjoy room-to-room awesomeness!!!

    • Thanks, Jo Ann! Probably the closest thing to that is the category at the top of the blog called “My Nest.” Everyone room is linked there, I think.

  21. Lovely tartan there Susan. I have recently finished covering a footstool, I removed the original beige cover and then recovered it with a dark green and dark red tartan material. Quite pleased with myself lol
    Merry christmas from Scotland.

  22. I love the plaid bedding Susan…I can relate to the floppy euro shams!…What I have done other than using a substantial insert, I have taken the flange, folded it down toward the back and sewed it to where the flange is half the size and it stands up!…I had some custom made recently and requested that the flange be just 2 inches wide…and it stands up perfectly…Thanks for hosting and have a wonderful week!

  23. Nancy of Lake Stevens says

    Susan, thanks so much for turning me on to down filled pillows. You have change my life 🙂 I have always used fibre filled pillows, remembering the nasty feather filled pillows my mother had. Now I realize that they were not filled with down, but feathers and we were forever getting pokes by the quills. So I ordered all new pillows for my decor pillows. One thing that tripped me up was I ordered pillows 2″ bigger than the covers but failed to read the fine print in the drop down box on the order page. If I had I would have noticed that the company would automatically size up the pillow form to fit my request. So I ordered 20″ forms to fit my 18″ covers, but received 22″ forms to fit my 20″ pillows. LOL Does that make sense? I was able to use 2 of the forms and just love them…they plump up so wonderfully. Thank you for the pillow post.

    • Oh, no! Sorry about that sizing thing, Nancy. It is confusing, I know. Did you send them back? If you need the contact person I’ve been emailing with, let me know. Oh, I just remembered, the last set that came had the name and phone number of a contact person in the packaging…so let me know if you need that. I just ordered two more inserts for my Jacobean summer shams that go on the bed. I needed the same size as what I have in my matelasse shams but since all those pillows will be on the bed at the same time, I had to order another set. I’m tempted to order another set of the Euro inserts so I don’t have to swap them out every spring and every fall, but storing them would be a challenge since they are so big.

      • Nancy of Lake Stevens says

        Yes , I did send them back although I did not use the same retailer as you did. But lesson learned. I do use pillows a lot since I am so short. I love them behind my back when I am sitting on the sofa or in a chair. With the down pillows I just punch them back up to get the good support. Love them.

        Merry Christmas, Susan.

        • Oh, I was wondering how you got the wrong size because the retailer I used doesn’t upsize them. They make them the exact size you ask for…but they do suggest in the description that you go with a bigger size. I do love them, too…makes such a difference!

  24. Hi Susan. Your winter bed looks gorgeous. I’m really loving plaid this year too. Thanks so much for hosting and hope you have a great week.

  25. Beth Francell says

    I inherited a number of men’s shirt tabs from the days when men’s collars were longer and needed to be straight. I never throw anything away if there might be another use. They are a stiff plastic material but the older ones were metal. They easily push through the stitches to make the corners of the shams stay straight.

  26. Carol Neibling says

    There are products that can be put in the flange that is an iron on stiffener. I think one is a Pellon product. A person who has worked at a fabric store for any length of time can tell you. Is the flange stitched all the way round so you can’t stick anything inside. Sometime you can loosen it a little and put the pellon in.

    I have found a profession photographer to take pictures of my friends kitchen. We will do it right after Christmas.

    Sleep well in your beautiful bed.

    • Yeah, they are made where the seam can be removed on the inside, then something can be put in there, then they can be stitched back. I could probably do it but I think I’ll let the person who’ll be making the bedskirt do it…leave it up to the expert. 🙂

  27. Susan,
    one day, I decided I have the ultimate solution to that “floppy shams” problem: once the bed is made I … shut the door and… voilá, no problem anymore! Out of sight, out of mind! 😉
    (I’m lazy, I know… LOL)
    But, hey, did I spy a plaid cosmetic bag on your nightstand? 🙂
    ~Hugs to you~
    Cecilia

    • lol I like your idea, Cecilia…that is def a lot easier! 🙂 Yeah, Williams-Sonoma actually made a little bag in the same fabric they made the duvet so I purchased it to keep all the little stuff I usually have on my bedside table hidden away…like lip moisturizer, a flashlight (in case of storms in the middle of the night) fingernail file, etc…

  28. I am not seamstress, so I make no promises this idea will work. Any way you can insert collar stays in the corners?

  29. Susan – Carol Neibling has the right idea. How about a little starch? No one ever sleeps on the fancy pillows so they should stay perky for quite awhile. I can remember buying tons of spray-on starch for my sheer priscilla curtains (does this age me or what).

    Enjoy!

  30. Thanks so much for sharing the info on pillow inserts. I’m in the market for some and the research you’ve already done for me is so appreciated.

    Also, I must thank you for the post on the preserved boxwood wreaths. Because of you and your lovely display, I ordered some and was wonderfully pleased with the product and the look. I plan to order more.

    You and your blog are a wealth of useful information. Can’t thank you enough.

    Happiest Christmas to you and yours. 🙂

    • Thanks, Linda…so glad that helped! I love the preserved wreaths. I barely resisted ordering some of the big ones this year…maybe next year. 🙂

  31. Love the way those inserts really beefed up your pillows, Susan! And I am loving the tartan on your bed…so cozy! Have a great week!…hugs…Debbie

  32. Your bed looks so festive and pretty Susan. I love plaid. I almost picked up some red plaid sheets at Target today but my spending has been a little out of control since moving into our new home. Sigh! Thanks so much for hosting dear lady and I hope the days leading up to Christmas are peaceful ones for you.
    Blessings,
    Patti

  33. Susan, Thank you for hosting! I’ve been gone from the blogging world for a year and it’s so fun to see all the blogs I’ve missed still hosting parties! Liz from HomeToCottage.com (formerly known as DecorateWithaLittleBit.com)

  34. Love your winter bedding Susan. Thank you for hosting!

  35. Thanks, Pamela!

  36. The case of the floppy flange! I can see where that would be maddening. That’s great that you found a source to get a better pillow insert. Your bed looks cozy and inviting for the winter season.

  37. This bed looks so inviting I’d love to crawl in and take a nap!

  38. Thanks for hosting this week. I have the same issue with pillows in 2 bedrooms. One we have the right sizes, etc. Still floppy. I must get a Euro insert for the other room. It actually makes me feel better, like not a failure in home decor to know you and other actually have this problem too!! 🙂 Merry Christmas! Linda

  39. Love the bedding and stocking pillow. Where did you find the stocking pillow; or did you perhaps make this. Thank you

  40. Susan, can you tell me which mailing you wrote about Heritage flannel sheets.
    Thanks,
    Jan

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