Personalized Burlap Pillows

I have been getting so many comments about the personalized burlap pillow that I sent for the C.R.A.F.T. package pal exchange  (that were also featured on Groopdealz) so I wanted to take a second to give you a quick run down of how I made it... mainly how I did the lettering. There really isn't much I can say about making the pillow itself... I am a newbie at sewing, so I wouldn't take much advice from me in that department:)

When it comes to the lettering I cheat a little. I am a poor blogger... I remember when I started reading different tutorials on different blogs and I would always be disappointed because they would use a Cricut or a Silhouette to create different vinyls that they would use as a stencil. It has just never been something that is "in the budget" for me. Although if Silhouette would be interested in giving me one to use and tryout I would be more then happy to take it off their hands. hint hint***

So anyway, without the fancy equipment I quickly learned to improvise!!!! So whenever I am personalizing fabric for any project I use regular old Microsoft Word and type out what I want to paint. I adjust the font and the size to my own liking and then I print it out... sounds tough, right? :)

Well here comes the tricky part... NOT! I put it under the fabric and... drum roll please... I trace it:)

look carefully you see the "O" under the burlap

Mind boggling right? ha It's so simple but for some reason people always seem to be blown away by the fact that there isn't more to it. I remember the first burlap pillow I made I printed it out and tried to use an exacto knife and cut out the letters to make a stencil... what was I thinking? Such a waste of time and it didn't work at all. That's when it hit me, I'm going to trace it. duh



don't worry about making mistakes the paint will cover it.

So for the burlap pillows I use a black sharpie and trace the letters. Then I use regular old black acrylic paint that I mix 1:1 ratio with a multi-purpose sealer, so it won't wash off in the laundry.

I use a small paint brush and slowly fill in the letters. Simple as that!

So there you have it! These pillows can are an inexpensive idea that you can give as the PERFECT gift for almost anyone. They can be extremely time consuming... if you are a perfectionist like me...
but they are well worth all of the work.  If you happen to be a busy bee and can't find the time to make them... they are all also available for sale in my online shop found HERE! shameless plug