Hand-Stamped Throw Pillow

my room needed inspiration. it has been lacking big time in the area of style and accents. tastefully bland, you could say. a day of brainstorming with a friend led to this. one of my all-time favorite projects. (so far...)

full tutorial after the jump.

keep reading //

SUPPLIES

scissors
fabric // i used canvas
paint // i used chalkboard for more printed feel
stamp
paintbrush
sewing machine + basic skills

lay out your fabric, measure, and cut. the pillow can be as big or as small as you want. i made mine about 15" x 15", with an extra half inch for sewing. once the fabric is cut and measured correctly, iron out the creases. (it makes it much easier to stamp.)

once ironed, use your paintbrush to apply the paint onto your stamp. applying paint with a brush as opposed to dipping your stamp into the paint is cleaner and prevents excess paint from "bleeding" on your fabric.

once paint is applied, stamp onto fabric. if the paint bleeds, or you make a mistake, it's ok. that's what makes it yours.

once the whole fabric is stamped, take both squares of fabric, pin, and sew all edges except one. leave half of the last edge open. this will allow you to flip the pillow right-side out and add stuffing. MAKE SURE the stamped side is FACING INWARD! if it's not, you're gonna have a problem.

add stuffing to your desired plushness. (yes i made that word up. thank you.)

after adding all the stuffing, tuck the edges of the unsewn portion (where you added in stuffing) into themselves and sew together, creating a smooth final edge on the pillow. (see below)