Mini Pillow tutorial

Well, I've been wanting to do this tute for a while but every time I made mini pillows I would forget to take pictures.  {I know, bad blogger}.  But, my sweetheart of a hubby {thought I better throw that in there just in case he actually reads this} took a day off of work and packed up our little Miss Sassy Pants and headed out for the morning so I could get some more work done for the upcoming craft show.  

These are what I made:  26 postcard sized no-sew pillows.

This is how you do it.  There are a few variations in how you can do these {I've tried them all} and each variation has is benefits and drawbacks.  This time I used Variation One so the images you will see will be of pillows made using Variation One.


Variation One:  Fast and Easy but still SUPER cute.
            Supply List:  Osenburg fabric, all purpose spray glue, Fabri Tac fabric glue, instant coffee,
                                tea bags, clothes pins, poly-fiber stuffing, computer images of your choice
                                {all of my images I got from The Graphics Fairy and Land of Nod Studios}
                                 and an inkjet printer


First get yourself some lovely Osenburg fabric.  It's one of my favorites.  It's cheap but has the beauty and texture of linen.  If you are only going to make a few, a 1/3 of a yard will be plenty!  Dye your fabric if you would like to.  I use a combination of tea and instant coffee.  Allow to hang dry.  I usually dye the night before so I can work first thing the next morning.

1. Cover your workspace with cardboard and lay out your fabric.  Spray the fabric generously with the spray glue.  {I recommend opening a window because you might get a little loopy from the fumes if you don't}  Lay out regular computer paper across your fabric.  One sheet for each pillow you're going to make.

2.  Cut out fabric being very careful that no fabric extends beyond the paper.  {You don't want the fabric to get caught in your printer!}  Wait a few minutes so the glue dries. Then load one sheet of paper/fabric combo into your printer.

3.  Select the image.  Using Word enlarge/shrink or rotate the image so that it take up 1/2 of the paper.  Print baby, print.  Gently peel the paper away from the fabric.

4.  GLUE!  {you can do right sides together for a more finished look or wrong sides together for a more rustic look}  Run a thin bead of Fabri Tac along 3 of the sides, fold over and press.  I use clothes pins to secure the pillow.

5.  Wait about 3-4 hours to allow the glue to dry.  Remove clothes pins {you might have to pry them off if glue get on them but I've never had a problem with one getting really stuck}.  Stuff your pillow with Poly-Fiber stuffing.  Again run a thin bead of Fabri Tac along the unsealed edge and use your clothes pins to clamp shut that edge.  Again, allow to dry 3-4 hours.  TaDa!  Mini pillow.  Great for mantels, bookshelves, grouping in a bowl or basket or on furniture.

Variation Two:  Longer but more vintage and rustic looking

1.  Follow all the instruction above, skipping the dying of the fabric and you will stop after you print out your image.   This is the HARD part....allow your fabric with images printed on it to sit and rest for at least a week.  I know, it's so HARD to do this but definitely worth it for the effect it gives.* I also highly recommend using only very clear black and white images or very vibrant color images for this variation because there will be significant fading.*

2.  Dye your fabric in tea or coffee or both.  Turn oven to 225 and bake the fabric on cookie sheets.  Flip fabric over every 10 minutes until completely dry.  The fabric will be stiff and have brown marks all over.

3.  Continue following the instructions in Variation One.  Your pillows will look aged to perfection.

Variation Three:  Sewing your pillows {A softer more "pillow like" pillow}

1.  I recommend dying your fabric first like in Variation One. 
2.  Instead of using spray glue.  Get yourself some Freezer Paper.  Lay out Freezer paper {wax side up} and place fabric on top.  Iron fabric until it is secured to the Freezer Paper.  Flip paper/fabric combo over and trace the outline of a sheet a computer paper onto the Paper side of the Freezer Paper.  Cut out, again being very careful that no fabric extends beyond  the outline.
3.  Insert the Freezer Paper/fabric combo into your printer and print image.  Gently peel off Freezer Paper.
4.  Fold fabric with right sides together and pin 3sides.  Sew the three sides shut and stuff you pillow.  Then pin and sew your final edge shut.

Hope you like these!

Also Linking to:

 No Minimalist Here's Open House Party