DIY: Stenciled pillow covers.

Our home is FULL of beige and brown, and I'm finally getting sick of the blah. I am trying to find small, inexpensive ways to add color throughout the house. One super easy way to do that is with throw pillows! I really just needed to cover the drab pillows we already had, so I decided to make pillow covers. I purchased a light-weight, creamy colored fabric for $3/yd, a large bottle of acrylic paint for $1.65, 3 sheets of stencil "paper" for $3, and I already had the roller and sewing machine. So in total to make two rockin' throw pillows, I paid about $8. I say that's a pretty good deal! Not to mention having paint and stencil paper to spare. Plus it always feels nice to be able to say "I made that". 

If you want to make your own awesome throw pillows, here's how:

 

1. Find yourself a neutral colored fabric and a paint color you like. You can purchase stencils of all sorts online or at any craft store, but stencils can be a bit pricey and you may not find the design you are looking for. I decided to make my own using a sheet of stencil paper and an Xacto knife.

2. Lay your fabric out onto a clean solid surface. You may want to lay down newspaper or cardboard underneath to catch any paint that soaks through. Place your stencil onto the pillow in your desired position. I chose to do a repeating pattern so I placed my stencil at the top left corner of the fabric, painted, then moved it over making sure to line it up right as I went. You can also use tape to hold the stencil in place as you paint. I would suggest waiting a minute or two to let the paint dry slightly before moving the stencil.

3. Once your fabric is painted and dried completely, you can begin to sew it into a pillow! Sewing an envelope pillow cover is very easy but I'm not sure that I could explain it properly, so if you're not sure about that part I suggest this video.

Now that I've made my first set of pillows, I'm already rummaging through my fabric stash for more fun pillow ideas. I made the blue flower pillow covers from an inexpensive patterned fabric I had on hand. At this rate, my couch will be covered in no time!