$4.50 pillow covers

Yes, I spent $4.50 on materials to make 2 pillow covers for my couch pillows. The reason they were so inexpensive is that I got the fabric for free! I used cloth napkins from World Market, which cost $10 for 6, and I had a $10 off coupon for my birthday, so they were free for me. The paint cost $4.50 (2 - $3 bottles with a 50% coupon off of one of them from Michaels). Even $14.50 for pillow covers is a good deal, I think.

I got the idea of using napkins to make pillow covers from Pinterest. It is such a great idea because the napkins are already cut to the right size and all you have to do it sew around the edges. I found grey napkins World Market, but I knew I wanted to do something with them because they were just a little too plain. I love stripes and had seen striped pillows at Williams Sonoma that I liked. I decided to copy the design.

The linen striped pillow that was my inspiration.

I bought fabric medium to mix with any color acrylic paint I want. Since I only needed a little bit, I bought a small bottle of a Martha Stewart grey color I liked at Michaels. If I were doing a larger project, I would have bought a quart of paint at a hardware store. To use the fabric medium, you mix it with the paint (2 parts paint to 1 part medium).

I tried making the pillowcases two different ways: 1) Sew the pillow, then tape and paint. 2) Paint the fabric, let dry, then sew. I think painting first is easier because trying to make the paint stay on just the front of the pillow once it’s already sewn is difficult.

To paint, I first found the middle of the napkin and put a piece of painters tape in the very middle. I eye-balled how far I wanted the two pieces of tape next to it, about 1/8 to 1/16”. I then found the center of the space left on the left side and right side and repeated the process. I used 9 pieces of tape for each pillow. After making sure the tape was firmly in place, I painted the fabric using a regular paintbrush I would use for trim and cutting in on the walls.

The napkin fabric was fairly thin, so the paint soaked through a little bit and stuck to the paper it was sitting on. If I were to do this again, I think I would cover a large piece of cardboard or some other hard surface with plastic wrap and paint on that. The paper stuck to the back of the fabric, but once I washed it, it came off completely, so it really wasn’t a big deal.

After painting, I waited about 5 minutes before removing the tape. I then let the paint dry for 24 hours (the instructions say 24-48 hours). For the pillow I hadn’t sewn yet, at this point, I sewed the three edges of the fabric together. For the pillow I had already sewn, I went straight to the next step. I used an iron to heat-set the paint, just going over it for about 15-30 seconds. Then I washed and dried it on low.

After drying, it was a little wrinkled, which I kind of liked. I ironed it anyway so it wouldn’t look too casual, inserted the pillow form, and hand-stitched the fourth side. This process took longer than I thought, but I didn’t want to sew in a zipper or spend the money on anything additional.

The final product looks perfect in the room – just how I wanted it. And no one would believe that it cost me less than $5! (Granted, I had the pillow forms already from some floral pillows I had bought a year ago, and I got the fabric with a coupon).

I am excited to use this technique to paint other fabrics. I think curtains in the baby’s room are up next. I’ll try to be more creative than just using stripes next time!