Here's the Scoop on How To Stencil A Pillow Cover

Simple Steps For Painting a Pillow Cover with Stencils

Good morning, my handy dandy crafters! We are feeling craft-tastic today at Cutting Edge Stencils. Do you remember our I Spy Stenciled Patterns post on Friday? It was so much fun, how could you forget? Well in that post we spotted a couple of pretty patterned pillows that we said could easily be recreated using our stencils. Are you as excited as we are? Great! Then we realized we hadn't given you the play-by-play on how to create those gorgeous pillow covers. We wouldn't want to earn a bad rap for tempting you with a fab DIY project, so today we're delivering the step-by-step! Let's welcome Nici, the crafty queen and blogger behind Posed Perfection. Her DIY stenciled pillow tutorial comes at just the right time. Nici has been changing over her home decor to capture a fall theme. With guests coming in just a couple of weeks, she wanted to make sure she had the perfect fall accents in her home. Nici had some old throw pillows that needed a color and pattern makeover to match her new fall decor. Her creative light bulb went off and she decided to stencil her own pillow covers. Check out the stenciling scoop listed below to see how she did it. Nici says, "I absolutely love how they turned out. They are the perfect complement to my fall decor, existing pillows and even go well with the Orange Sweater Lumbar Pillow I made last week."

Here is the stenciling scoop on how to stencil a pillow cover (this project comes from Posed Perfection):

First you're gonna need this stuff listed below:

• Drop Cloth
• Scissors
• A stencil (for this project the Turkish Tulip Craft Stencil was used)
• Stencil brush <--- We prefer the one in this link.
• Painter's tape
• Small paint tray or plastic plate
• Paper towels
• Craft paint found at Michaels or JoAnns ( for this project Canyon Orange Americana paint was used)
• Textile Medium like, Anita's Textile Medium found at your local craft store

1. Gather Materials: Start the stencil project by gathering all of the materials listed above. 2. Cut The Material: Decide how big a pillow you wish to create. Nici decided to use drop cloth material to create her pillow. She was able to purchase this for less than $10 at her local hardware store. To create an average sized pillow similar to Nici’s, cut the drop cloth to 19"x 48". ) 3. Secure The Stencil: Position the stencil design on the pillow. Measure the placement of the stencil to ensure the pattern is centered. Then you can secure the stencil in place using painter's tape. 4. Start Stenciling: Pour your craft paint onto a plate or paint tray. Mix up the paint with the fabric medium (2 parts paint to 1 part medium). Then dip your stencil brush into the paint. Blot off the excess paint onto your folded paper towel until the brush looks almost dry. The key to stenciling is using as little paint as possible. Too much paint will cause the design to bleed and smudge. Next you will paint the design onto the drop cloth with the stencil brush using a dry brush (stippling) technique. Stippling is when you tap the brush repeatedly over the stencil opening. 5. Complete the Pattern: Allow the paint to dry a little and reposition the stencil so you can continue to paint the pattern on the entire surface. Let the paint dry for two hours. 6. Sew The Pillow: Nici decided to create a pillow cover for an existing pillow. This will allow her to easily swap out the pretty patterns throughout the year. To create this cover, she chose to sew a removable envelope style cover for the pillow. Here is a simple tutorial on how to sew an envelope cover. No Sewing Skills? It's not a problem. Please don't feel like you can't create a stenciled pillow just because you can't sew. Here's the solution. Try using Stitch Witchery which can be found at a local craft store, like JoAnn's, for $3.99. As seen in Real Simple magazine, this handy fusible bonding tape is perfect for a craft like this. All you have to do is place the tape in between two layers of the drop cloth and iron it. The heat from the iron will fuse the layers together and create your perfect pillow! Now let's admire your gorgeous creation!

Would you consider stenciling a throw pillow? Leave us a comment below!

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Thanks for reading, and happy stenciling! Michelle and the Cutting Edge Stencils Crew