DIY Hand-Painted Quote Pillow: Choose Happy and Walk the Moon Lyrics

A few weeks ago I posted my Bright Side/Monday Side Pillow and promised I would be making more, so here is another easy tutorial for a throw pillow. And don’t ask if I have too many for a normal person, because I definitely do. Day bed = pillows. Capiche?

This method is very customizable, meaning you can paint on whatever image you’d like. However, since I essentially used a tracing technique, your base fabric will need to be light enough to see through. I happen to have a lot of white in my décor, so this was no biggie for me. Plus those little golden arrows are just so cute!

You will need:

Computer and printer

Wax paper or plastic wrap

½ yard light colored cotton fabric, patterned if you’d like (You should be able to see through it!)

Fine artist’s brush

Fabric Creations soft fabric ink* in contrasting color

Fabric scissors

Water erasable ink pen

Sewing machine and related notions

Stuffing… much stuffing

*This is not sponsored in any way, shape, or form, I just happen to really love this product! It's thinner and less gloppy than normal fabric paint, is easy to control while painting, and settles into the fabric really nicely. But yeah, regular fabric paint would definitely work too!

Step 1

Convert the image or phrase of your choice to black and white, and print as large as possible on one sheet of paper. You also want to mark the center of the image, and can do this before you print it, or afterwards with a ruler and pen. You also have the luxury of adding this point in white if you do it on the computer, right over the black text in the center!

Step 2

Cut 2 rectangles of fabric to your desired pillow size, adding one inch to each dimension for seam allowances. I used a pillow I already had as a reference, and ended up cutting my fabric 19” x 11”.

Step 4

Fold one piece of the fabric in half both ways (so into quarters) and mark the center of this piece with a water-soluble or disappearing ink pen. Iron both pieces of fabric to get rid of those icky wrinkles.

Step 5

Tape your computer paper to the surface you will be working on, followed by a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap. Then, lay out your fabric piece so the center points line up, and gently tape it to the surface as well.

Step 6

Then, just paint your image onto the fabric, essentially tracing the outline from the computer image. I would also suggest having the image pulled up on a computer nearby, or printing out an extra, in case the outlines are difficult to see in any places.

It is also helpful to paint each line lightly, then fill it in and thicken it. This will make it easier to follow the image and keep the lines straight. Work from top left to bottom right if you are right handed and like to draw your hand through wet paint like I do.

Step 7

After letting it dry for 24 hours, heat set your paint. If you used a water-soluble ink pen, also get rid of that mark in the center by either spritzing your fabric with water or rinsing it.

Step 8

Pin your fabric pieces with right sides together, making sure the pattern is oriented correctly. Then stitch around the pillow leaving a gap at the base, clip the corners, turn it, and stuff it. Stitch up the gap as well! I like to do this by hand with a slip stitch.

This idea was actually the invention of my older sister, the one and only Samantha, who whipped up the square pillow you see above as a Christmas gift! It was also really lovely see some doodles I’d already created for the blog in pillow form, and for much cheaper than you could order it online! (“Choose Happy” is here, and the lyric from my babes, Walk the Moon, can be downloaded here!)

I hope you love these little pillows as much as I do! I can say that my collection is quite sizable, and will honestly probably keep growing! They are just such a fun, easy, and unique piece of room décor that can add quite the personal touch, don’t you think?

What kind of décor takes the cake in your house? (Ooh, cake pillow next?!)

Stay lovely,