Finally.

Here it is.

The Scrabble Tile Pillow Tutorial!!!

{I know.  It only took me forever to post it.}

Anyways, do you want to make some fun Scrabble pillows for yourself?

You do?!

Here’s how:

Materials to make one 16 inch square pillow:

Fabric – I used cotton canvas, but any home decor weight will do.  If you use a lighter weight fabric you might want to interface it to give it some more durability.

Fabric Paint -  I used Tulip brand. I got it at Joann’s

Sponge brush

 

Xacto knife and printer {or cutting tool like a Silhouette or Cricut}

Freezer Paper

Pillow form or stuffing

Thread

Painting the Tiles:

1. Cut your fabric into two 17 inch by 17 inch squares

2. Next make your stencil, using your cutting tool to cut out the letter and number you’d like from the freezer paper.  Be sure that the dull side of the paper is facing upwards.

I used my Silhouette, which is AMAZING AND AWESOME, but you could very easily use your Xacto knife.  Just print out the letter onto regular paper, cut it out and trace it onto the freezer paper.  Then put a piece of cardboard under the freezer paper, and cut out your stencil with the Xacto knife.  Some printers will print directly onto the freezer paper, so you can try that too.  The Xacto knife method works great, and is exactly what I did when I didn’t have the Silhouette. 

3. Iron the stencil onto one of the fabric squares. The shiny side of the paper will temporarily adhere to the fabric if you use a nice warm dry iron.  {No steam.} It peels right back up, so if you don’t like your positioning you can move it.  Once you are happy with the position make sure you really iron the edges of the stencil flat.  That will keep your fabric paint from bleeding under the stencil. You might have to iron on more than one piece for letters like “O” that have a space that isn’t connected, so don’t throw away your scraps til you know what you need!

4. Put a scrap of old paper or cardboard under neath the square to protect your table. Then using a paper plate or scrap of cardboard squeeze out some paint and use the brush to fill in your stencil.

I like to try to always paint “inward” on my stencil, which helps keep you lines nice and sharp, like this:

5. Let the paint dry.  If you feel a little impatient you can dry it with a hair dryer to speed it up, but I usually just let it dry over night. If you think you need a second coat go ahead.  I put on a pretty thick coat, so I just did one.

6.   Once the paint is COMPLETELY dry {don’t cheat! It might smear!} you can peel up your stencil. THIS IS TOTALLY FUN.  I mean REALLY.

See?! Fun, right?!

 Sewing the Pillows:

Now you’re ready to put the pillow together!  But here’s where I was a bad blogger and just whipped them up quick without tons of pictures.

1. Place the two pillow pieces with the right sides {outsides} together.  Pin all the way around, and make sure to mark yourself a place to leave open to turn the pillow right side out.  I usually leave just enough to get my hand in and that’s it.  The smaller the space the less hand sewing you do! Note: If you use a pillow form you may need a slightly larger opening.  I used stuffing, so I could keep mine smaller.

2. Stitch all the way around the pillow with a 1/2″ seam allowance.  {Don’t forget to leave that turning space!}

3. Clip the corners so they make nice sharp angles when you turn it right side out.

4. Turn it and stuff it. If it looks all wrinkly when you turn it, iron it before you stuff it.  My fabric paint was fine with the iron, but you might want to use some scrap fabric or a towel over yours to make sure it doesn’t transfer.  Read your paint label to see how yours will react.

5. Pin the opening shut like this:

6. Hand sew the opening closed! Done!

Finishing Up:

Go put the pillow somewhere fun and take lots of pictures.  And if you made several, write all sorts of words with them.  Like this:

{Giggle.}  It’s pretty fun. And could be naughty if you had the right letters. So don’t do that. ‘Cause it’s almost Christmas and naughty isn’t nice.

Hmmm… speaking of Christmas,  I think I might make a set in red paint with J-O-Y for myself.  Wouldn’t that be fun and Christmasy?  I think so! 

Anyways…

 

Yay!  We did it!  And I promise to be back with better pillow tutorial pictures soon. I have a bunch of pillows to make around here so I’ll make a tutorial for those to show you.

See you soon?  I’ll show you how to make your own Christmas Stockings….

♥