Friday, July 20, 2012

& The Fabric

On Wednesday I showed you how to sew a pillow.  (I'm certain you all ran out and made 8 new pillows right away.)  I also promised you I would be back to tell you about the "&" fabric I used on the front of the pillow.  So I am here to do just that.


So where did I get that fabric?  The answer is my garage.  Yup, you read that right.  I went into the garage and cut a square from a not so gently used drop cloth.  Canvas, splattered, the whole nine yards.  Then I threw the square into the washing machine.

Let me warn you that you will want to cut off a square a good amount larger then you will actually need.  My drop cloth was pretty dirty so I really needed to wash it but washing and drying it did cause the edges to fray a good amount.  So make sure you have edges to spare so you aren't stressing as you watch the fabric tumble.

Next I made myself a stencil.  I simply printed out an "&" from my computer.  Then I cut it out.


I put some painters tape on the back and put it in the center of the fabric (which I had cut down to size at this point).  I mixed together some fabric paint I already had.  I used a narrow brush and dabbed on the paint.  Yes...dabbed.  I used a light amount of paint and gently dabbed it on tracing the outside of the stencil.


I removed the stencil and let the fabric dry over night.  


And the fabric was ready for sewing...




It is always SO satisfying to reuse items I already have around the house.  Try it out!  Go shopping in your garage.