I made these pillow covers last week to cover up some brown tapestry floor pillows that have been around our house for most of our marriage. Donnie loves to use them while watching movies with the kids, but I kept finding myself stashing them in corners when they weren't in use, because they were just so ugly.
See for yourself:
The old covers were dark, worn, and icky. So I pulled out some supplies and got to work. If you want to make some for yourself, here's what you'll need:
For the base fabric, I used the same canvas drop cloth that I used for the custom storage bins in the the kids' room. I still have lots of it left. I wonder how many projects I'll get out of it. The painter's tape was left over from the dining room paint job, the fusible web was from Emma's teacher gift last year, and the linen fabric is either from other projects, or thrifted clothing items I bought for the purpose of reusing the linen. The linen probably cost around $2, the craft paint $2, and the textile medium was $2. If you are buying fusible web for this project, make sure you buy the kind you can sew into, the thinner the better. I used heat n bond for this project.
To make the stripes for the back of the pillows, draw pencil lines 1 1/2 inches apart (or the width of your tape) with your clear ruler as a guide. Carefully place your tape along every other line. Mix your paint with the textile medium, at a 2:1 ratio. I eyeballed two globs of paint to one squirt of medium. Worked fine. The medium is sticky and helps the paint adhere to fabric permanently. I think it also improves the texture.
As the paint starts to dry, remove the tape to reveal your stripes!
If you are feeling kinda cheap, save the tape from your first pillow back, and use it to paint your second one. It sticks enough for both and saves you, I dunno, $.25?
After your stripes have dried overnight, iron them with a cover cloth to set the paint. Then throw in the washer and dryer so the paint softens up a bit.
Next, applique the first pillow front.
1. Make a pattern by printing out your letters in a font you like. Cut it out. Fuse the adhesive-backed paper webbing to the fabric with an iron. Place the letter face down on the paper and trace around the pattern. Cut it out. 2. To make perfect guidelines on your canvas, fold it in half and press along the fold with a warm iron. Then fold it the other way, so you have four equal squares. Line your appliques along these guides. Peel the backing off of the fabric applique. 3. Making sure the letters are exactly where you want them, fuse them to the canvas with the iron, following the instructions on the package. 4. Sew a straight stitch in black thread around each letter. I like to outline them twice, not being too careful, so it makes a slightly scribbley outline. What's the point in hand-making something if it looks like a machine made it?
For the second pillow front, I made a pattern for a equilateral triangle, and cut several out of each color linen, backed with iron-on adhesive. I had a few more scraps with backing left, so I made a couple half-triangles, too. Then I ironed everything in place.
And stitched close to the edges of the appliques.
I took the zippers off of the original pillows and used them to close the covers, but you could easily make an envelope back or just sew the pillow closed with a slip stitch.
Now instead of hiding these pillows, I'm moving them all over the house to see where I like them the best.
The 1 1/2 inch stripes turned out to be the perfect proportion for these 22-inch pillows. The paint, after being washed, still has a little bit of a stiff texture to it--kind of like indoor/outdoor fabric. But it does not feel like paint.
Just like with every creative project, instead of running out of ideas, it has inspired several more. Like, what else can I do with this canvas drop cloth? And, what other home-fabrics could use a painted design?
So while I think about what's next, I'll let you go and make yourself a set of your own.
Here's the other project I made from the same canvas drop cloth:
