How To Make a Letter Pillow

19 July 2010
Part of Finnegan's room reveal {which I will hopefully get to this week} includes this DIY initial pillow.


I thought that you might like to see how I did it, so here is the SUPER EASY tutorial.

First, take your pillow cover, wash it and dry it {without fabric softener} and then iron flat.  Now, if you're super crafty {way more than I can handle} you can make your pillow cover.  I bought mine at Ikea.  Ahem.  I am not a seamstress, therefore I buy.


Then, I went to Microsoft Word and made my letter in Word Art.  My pillow cover was 20" square so I made my paper legal size and filled it with the F.  Then I cut out a piece of freezer paper {buy at the grocery store} to legal size and loaded that into my printer, making sure that I printed on the non-shiny side.


Once you have it printed, make sure the sizing is a correct fit for your pillow cover.


Then, start cutting your template.  I used an x-acto to cut the straight lines and scissors to cut the curves.  The only thing you have to be careful of is a clean line on the white parts, you will throw away anything that is printed on which is a bit counter-intiuative to cutting something out normally.


Next up is the ironing!  Per the recommendations of some of the tutorials I consulted, I ironed on a full sheet of freezer paper to the inside of the cover first, then I ironed on the cut out f to the outside of the cover.  I used a hot iron on the non-steam setting.  I used a lift and press method {rather than ironing it regularly side to side} so it didn't mess up the freezer paper where it was cut.  When the ironing was done, I slipped a cutting mat on the inside of the cover as an extra precaution against the paint bleeding through.
 

Here it is ready to go.  Paint carefully using a stamping technique rather than a swiping technique with the paintbrush.  Especially near the edges so they don't lift.

Allow to dry flat for 72 hours {or whatever the back of your paint bottle says and stuff with a pillow! 

EASY!!

13 comments:

Stephanie R. said...

I would LOVE to make one of these for my bedroom...thanks for the TUT!!! amazing!

Meg said...

That pillow turned out amazing!! Fabulous job, Michelle!

Alexis said...

Love it....I have a barely used roll of freezer paper from a tshirt craft...may have to try it :)

Jen @ lil Mop Top said...

Super cute! I LOVE freezer paper but haven't tried running it through the printer yet. That would be too easy I guess! :) And b/c I am super cheap and hate to waste ink, I usually make my images in 'word art' in microsoft and make it just an outline instead of a filled in letter. Just a little random tip for ya! :)

Nikki said...

I totally love it!!! I would probably still find a way to mess it up!!!
I wish I was more creative!!! Do you come up with this fun stuff on your own or where do you get your ideas from. I'm heading to Ikea this week and really might have to try that!!!

Michelle said...

I saw something similar in (I think) Serena + Lily catalog only theirs was fabric. I don't sew so I figured I could get the same look with paint!

It's so easy you can't screw it up.

Holly Lefevre said...

CUTE! I just used freezer paper for the first time...LOVE it!

Alison @ Oopsey Daisy said...

WOW!! This is just plain fabulous! THanks for sharing!

~Alison
http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/

Meg said...

okay, you ARE crafty...i've never heard of freezer paper and this pillow even seems too daunting for me. it's adorable though so i may have to try it out. i'm sure it will end up being a month long escapade. love it :)

Rose :: FineCraftGuild.com said...

great tutorial! your pillow has come out great. perfect in fact.

so i'm inviting you:

come link it up at our DIY TUTORIAL LINKY PARTY:
http://www.finecraftguild.com/diy-tutorial-linky-party-6/

so that our readers can find you

Rose :: FineCraftGuild.com said...

oops sorry. the current linky party is
http://www.finecraftguild.com/diy-tutorial-linky-party-7/

from the home page, you can also find the latest party at any time

sportzmom said...

Really cute. Can't wait to make some!

Anonymous said...

Can you tell me what font you used?

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