DIY Pillow Covers

Another one of my Christmas projects was making these nice pillow covers for my friends. I bought pre-made plain pillow covers from Ikea (around $6 each), but you can make your own with the fabric of your choice.

For the quote I used black fabric paint and my letter hand-made stamps (to learn how to make your own stamps, click here). Using a small brush I applied the paint onto the stamps and then placed them, one by one, on the pillow. Make sure to lightly trace where the letters are going to go with a pencil first, that way your lines will be straight and you won't run out of space in the middle of a word. You can also use letter stencils if you don't have stamps (learn how to apply stencils, here). After you are done applying the paint, let it dry, and then iron with another piece of fabric in between. This will seal the paint onto the fabric.

For the elephant string detail, flip your cover inside out and trace the shape or silhouette of your design with a pencil on the space you want it to go. Using needle and string, simply make your string travel from different intersection points throughout the border of the design. Make sure to keep your fabric stretched at all times, so you'll have a nice flat surface afterwards.

You can choose to do the string design first and then place the quote around the design, or write the text first and then make the design in the space that's left. Either way works.

You can also use the letter stamps in different ways. One of my co-workers liked this project so much, she asked me to stamp the names of her family members interconnecting each other, "Scrabble" style.