Make your mark Pillow Tutorial

Decorating textiles has been made really easy for crafters and makers with textile paint and pens sold in art stores or online. They don’t require special equipment to dry, just the heat from your iron to seal the paint and make it safe to wash your painted fabric in the washing machine. Even if you are not too sure about your drawing skills this one is a definite possibility to try out. You will only need about an hour for the whole project. By the end you will acquire a new skill and a brand new pillow that could be worth 40-50$ in store. Say yes to this!

Difficulty: Easy

Time to complete:‘ 1 hour

Materials:

A pillow cover

A larger piece of old fabric

Textile Paint pen ( I used the Marabu brand)

Drawing pins

Some paper and pencil to practice

Or if you are making your own:

IL019 Bleached Softened‘ 

Pins

Scissors

Matching Thread

A sewing machine

‘ 1. If you are using a pre made cover, stretch it out using some pins onto a larger piece of cloth. You can then secure the large cloth with some drawing pins onto your table. That way your pillow cover wont get damaged. Make sure to lay a layer of some fabric inside your pillow, so the color doesn’t stain the back of your cover.

If you are making your own envelope pillow, for an 18″ insert pillow cut out one piece of fabric 19″ by 19″. (The extra inch isnt for the hem, rather to give you room to paint out of the frame.) Then cut out 2 pieces 19″ by 12″ for the back panels. ‘ I like my pillows really tight, so I make the covers slightly smaller than the actual insert. Otherwise add 1/2 inch on all sides to each piece you cut for the hem. Stretch it out the same way described above.

2. Take a piece of paper and try out your arm movement, you should be using your whole arm rather than just the wrist. You could stand up, that way you will have more room for the arm to move. Try drawing lines in one direction, once you are happy, draw lines in another direction and start to build up the pattern. Once you are happy with your arm movements, try out your textile paint pen on some paper, make sure the flow of ink is even. You don’t want any surprises on the fabric, so try and get the lines running smoothly on paper by following instructions on the pen. Usually you need to shake it and press on the tip of the pen.

3. Get back to your stretched fabric. The key to painting or drawing, like with every other craft or skill is confidence. Everyone can draw, everyone can learn to paint, it is a skill like everything else so there is no need to be scared of it. Let your arm make the mark. Experiment with thick and thin lines, more and less pressure on the tip etc.

4. You can be the judge of when your cover is done. Follow manufacturers instructions on how to secure paint. Usually it involves ironing for about 3-5 minutes.

5. Before you sew all the pieces together, you need to hem one long edge on each of the back panels. Fold 1cm along the edge of the fabric. Repeat. You can iron or just pin it down. Sew the seams with a straight stitch. You should now have two back panels, each with one long edge hemmed.

6. Now it’s time to arrange your fabric pieces to sew together. Take your painted front panel and lay it right side up It will be an inch larger than your back panels. Trim it to size (18″ by 18″)

7. Lay one of the back panels on top, right side down . Hemmed edge should be the inner edge.

8. Lay the second panel over this. As shown.

9. Pin the layers in place, with the pins at right angles to the fabric, so they are easier to pull out as you sew.

10. Sew all four sides with a straight edge, remember to do a couple of reverse stitches so the seam doesn’t unravel. You should now have a finished cover. You can snip of the edges, that removes excess fabric, so you can push the corners out to ‘ a point.