Halloween Pillow Tutorial

Okay, I worked up the nerve for another tutorial.

And I really like this one!

I LOVE Halloween and wanted some cute pillows for my couch. But nothing too loud and colorful.

I went to Joanns and got some burlap (it was a little pricey there, next time I will shop around)

And I used Grunge in Onyx from the Origins collection for the main body of the pillow. 

I made this project in about 3 hours, 2 of those hours were simply waiting for the paint to dry!

Here the steps!  

1.  I cut 4 squares 13"x13" out of the Grunge fabric.  I wanted the pillows to be 12x12, so I added a 1/2" seam allowance.  I cut 2 squares out of the Burlap and made them 8"x8". (okay, the burlap didn't come with the bird and cat already on it, I forgot to take a before picture, forgive me)

2. Then I made my stencils.  You can find a sheet of the clear stencil plastic at any craft store.  I then googled some images that I liked and made a stencil. I will say, the hardest part about this project was cutting out the stencil-make sure you have some GOOD scissors!

3.Then I taped my stencil to the burlap and got to work!  I used black fabric paint, also available at any craft store, I got mine at Walmart.

Here is my crow stencil.

I let the burlap dry for a couple of hours.  Be careful as burlap is really porous and that paint will leak through.

4. Once the paint was dry, I stitched around the edges of the burlap with a zig zag stitch. I was about 1/4" from the raw edge. I used a tan thread and you can hardly tell it was there. This will keep the burlap edge from fraying to pieces.  You would hate to go through all this work and have your beautiful project shred apart, right :) 

You will probably need to pull away any loose burlap from the edges.  It will give you a frayed look without the continued fraying.

5. Then I pinned the burlap to the Grunge fabric and sewed it on!  Basically an appliqué. I stitched about 3/4" from the raw edge of the burlap so it would stick out a little bit on the ends and not be completely sewn down. I used a regular straight stitch here.

 6. Then I placed the Black square with the burlap sewn onto it, and another blank black square right sides together sewed all the way around, using 1/2" seam allowance. 

** Be sure to leave a little slit at the bottom open so you can turn the pillow right sides out. (or if you are like me and forget to the leave the opening EVERY time, just unpick the seam a little bit at the bottom) One day I will remember, I am sure.**

 7. Turn the pillow right sides out, stuff it full and sew the bottom shut either by hand, on your machine. 

And viola!

A little Halloween fun!

My 4 year old son thought the Crow was a penguin.  He seriously can't figure out why I would put a bird on a pillow. Silly Mommy.  He was hoping for a ghost. Maybe the next time.

 But the cat he loves!