Domestic Dreamer: Spray Paint

That's the question my oh so understanding boyfriend asked me last night as I was plugging away on my latest project. And that's exactly what I did. I spray painted some throw pillow covers. Have I mentioned lately how much I love spray paint? It's seriously a small love affair. I was a little hesitant when spray paint and fabric were involved, but if I do say so myself, they turned out AWESOME! Here they are in all their glory.

I got this idea over at V and Co. where she gives a tutorial here. I am going to go ahead and give you my version of the process (although it was almost exactly like V and Co's). There were a few things I would have done differently, so this is the story of the lovely painted pillows...

You will need:

Muslin
Freezer Paper
Pencil
Spray Paint
Scissors
Iron
Sewing machine or some mad hand sewing skills
Like colored thread
Pillow insert

I first started off with some muslin (you can get it at any fabric store - I got mine at JoAnn's Fabrics for $2.99/yd - CHEAP!). I cut two 19"x19" squares (that is the size of my pillow inserts) and four 19"x12" rectangles (these will be used for the backside of your pillow cover).

These are two of the four 19"x13" pieces.

I then downloaded the "wheat" stencil pdf at V and Co. found here and traced it onto my freezer paper (you will need long, skinny strips of freezer paper for your "stems" - those are really easy to free hand). Not sure if it's necessary to mention or not, but you could use whatever design you wanted. I still want to find a really pretty floral pattern and try it on my other two pillows.

After tracing all the "wheat leaves" I thought I would need, I then cut them out and ironed them onto my 19"x19" piece of muslin SHINY SIDE DOWN (trust me, if you miss this step, it will stick to the bottom of your iron - not that I'm speaking from personal experience or anything...).

After you have ironed your wheat onto the large piece of muslin, then it is time to bust out the spray paint. I ended up using Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch in Warm Yellow and Valspar in Petrol Blue (although I had a Krylon brown pictured above - I changed my mind. Also, as a side note, I was much more pleased with how the Rust-Oleum turned out on the fabric. The Valspar is a little sticky and more stiff. Not sure if that's because I used more paint, or just the nature of the brand). Spray very light coats onto your fabric until it is nearly covered. Mine ended up still having a big of white show through, but I chose to leave it. I thought it gave it a more interesting look, and it is harder to notice when it is right up against a pillow.

Yes, that is carpet you see in that picture. Please ignore the fact that I spray painted inside in my little one bedroom apartment. I am VERY impatient and it was super windy yesterday so inside it was. I did have both doors open (both on the east and west end) so it created a nice draft for ventilation :).

Once that has fully dried (I waited over night for the yellow one to dry, and about 2 hours for the turquoise one), then peel the wheat off of the piece of muslin.

Once you have done this, it is now time to get sewing. I created what is called an "envelope" slip cover. You can find a tutorial for that here.

Once your pillows are sewn, turn them right side out, insert your pillow inserts, and enjoy. An easy, cheap, and cute way to update your throw pillows to match any decor change you wish to make.

A few things to be mindful about when making your pillow covers. First, make sure there is no "overhang" when you're putting your leaves on the stems. This becomes very apparent when you pull the wheat off the muslin like shown below.

Also, I used green throw pillows with brown polka dots for my pillow inserts for the turquoise pillow. I realized as I was constructing these pillows that you would be able to see the insert through the white muslin on the back, so I spray painted the 19"x12" pieces as well. I would not recommend this. While it wasn't terrible, it's much easier when one side is spray paint-less fabric so it's not so stiff and easier to work with. I would just buy a different color fabric for the back, or use a white insert (although it won't be as cheap that way if you don't have one laying around). Also, for the first pillow, I used two 19"x11" pieces of fabric instead of 19"x12" for the back. You can't really tell in the picture, but the pillow is popping through on the one with the white back. That's when I changed the measurements so I wouldn't have that problem with the other one.