Holiday Burlap Pillow Covers

Do you like all the pretty burlap projects shown on the web? I do, and this season I though I’d add a couple of projects to my holiday decor using burlap. This project for holiday burlap pillow covers is really easy, and I’ll show you two tricks that you can use in the future, for any time of year.

One of the best parts is that burlap fabric is very inexpensive. I think I purchased 1.5 yards at $3.00 which is very affordable for two large pillows. Especially this time of year when I am spending money right and left.

To help, I teamed up with a group of bloggers to offer a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card. Details to enter will be shown at the bottom of the post.

 

The first trick is:

Making Envelope Pillow Covers

Start by measuring your existing pillows. Mine were 18.5 inches square. So I added 2 inches to the top for seam allowance, and to add a little extra breathing room. Then I added 4 inched to the sides. This is because you need to fold under some of the sides and have an overlap to make the envelope.

Here’s a tip: The lady at Hobby Lobby showed me a neat trick to cutting burlap. Make a small snip where you want to cut them pull out one of the strands and it will leave a channel as shown in the pictures above. Now you can easy see where to cut by following the channel.

Fold over about 1 inch to the wrong side (the burlap didn’t really seem to have a wrong side but in case you use a different material) and press with an iron. Stitch about 1/2 inch to finish the edge.

On the other side fold over once, and and then fold it again about 1.5 inches. Press. Stitch to finish the edge.

With right sides together, bring the folded pieces towards the middle or slight to the side, overlapping until you total width is just slightly larger then the pillow width. Then sew a 1 inch seam along the raw edges. Clip corners and turn right side out. Stuff with the original pillow or a pillow form.

This is what it looks like on the back.

That’s it for the envelop pillow cover. You can do this with any fabric or pillow. You can also buy pillow forms at craft stores, or buy some regular pillows at thrift stores for cheap, and change out your covers with the seasons.

The second trick is:

Transferring An Image Using Waxed Paper

In the past I showed you how to transfer an image on a pillow using transfer paper and freezer paper in my post, Botanical Pillows. This time I used regular waxed paper and it worked like a charm.

All you have to do is tape waxed paper to a regular sheet of copy paper as shown above.

Then print your image (make sure it is reversed), on an inkjet printer.

Note: Be very careful when the paper comes off the printer. The slightest touch will smudge the graphic.

Flip the image onto your fabric and gently press down on all areas with your hands.

If the image is too light you can easily fill in with sharpie markers. On these I added a little embellishment with the same stencil I had for my bulletin board post with some craft paint and a black sharpie.

One last tip: Use the end of your paintbrush or a pencil eraser and dip it into the craft paint. Then dab it on the fabric for perfect dots.

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