Hi Infarrantly Creative readers! I’m Sarah from Sarah M. Dorsey Designs and I’m so happy to be sharing a super easy, budget friendly way to update your sofa with stenciled pillow shams!
I love this because you can simplify it to be finished in about an hour or you can spend a little more time to have a completely custom look! Want to know the best part? It only cost about $3-5 per pillow sham!
Supplies:
$3 white pillow shams Gurli from Ikea.
Acrylic paint
Silhouette Cameo Machine
Grafix Clear Craft Plastic
(for making your own stencils with your Cameo machine)
White foam roller
Stiff Stencil brush (for making the faux trim around the edge)
Free Silhouette Files:
Hong Kong 1 / Hong Kong 2 (you will need both to complete design)
I decided to purchase the colors that I didn’t have and also use leftover latex paint with fabric medium so that it would be washable after heat setting.
For my inspiration, I turned to my Pinterest boards (always a great way to see trends that you like!) and picked the a few designs that I loved from Caitlin Wilson Textiles and Sarah Swanson’s home.
I started with two striped designs. It really doesn’t get easier that this! For the diagonal stripes, I didn’t even have to measure! 🙂 I simply determined the width between stripes and offset it with two pieces of tape to keep the line straight and then laid the next piece of tape. For the wide chevron, I did measure, but still super simple!
The most important thing is to press the tape down firmly so that the paint doesn’t seep underneath the lines. Then I mixed up my paint, dipped my roller in, rolled off the excess (also important to get clean lines) and rolled away from the painter’s tape to avoid build up around the tape.
After that dried, I created an inexpensive trim by taping off the edge and brushed on a contrasting color.
Now for my favorite part! I decided to create my own stencils based on Caitlin Wilson’s Hong Kong and Scallop fabrics. I drew the patterns in Adobe Illustrator and cut the stencil on my Silhouette Cameo with Grafix Craft Plastic (see Amazon link above). You could also pick up a few stencils at your local craft store for a simpler method.
I’ve been making stencils for about a year and have learned that not everything can be easily translated into a stencil. To get the thin gold lines instead of a gold fill on the Hong Kong inspired stencil, I created a two part stencil, the first to capture the outer edge of the cube, and the second to finish the inside. A little extra effort, but I was able to achieve the exact look I was going for, so definitely worth it!
If you’ve never stenciled before, here are a few tips. 1. Lay and tape paper over your table, tape the sham down, center the stencil and use painters tape to secure your stencil in several places to avoid it moving 2. dip your brush in paint and wipe off excess on a paper towel before starting, you want a small amount of paint on the brush to avoid it going underneath the stencil. 3. Hold the stencil down with your other hand as you go to prevent it from coming up 4. Carefully line up the next row so that the pattern stays consistent.
Allow the paint to dry completely and heat set with a white cloth between the pillow and iron on a low setting.
I decided to mix the painted shams with my DIY greek key sham and a pillow made out of the left over fabric from my Mid Century Modern refurbished chairs, Caitlin Wilson’s tall mint chevron.
I didn’t paint the backs, but that would be a great way to add a contrasting color or pattern to have a reversible sham!
I’m loving our new pillow shams! Most of all, I LOVE the price!
Here’s the breakdown:
Ikea Gurli Sham $3, qty 4 $12
Paint and Fabric Medium $6 (with coupon at Michaels)
Total: $18
I had the fabric for the mint chevron pillow left over and the Greek key sham was a previous DIY, but this project could be easily done for under $30 depending on your fabric selections!
Other DIY projects in the room, chartreuse caning chair, herringbone driftwood coffee table, painted offset striped rug, custom shelving for $35, nesting tables with a greek key top, milk glass lamp with stenciled shade.
Feel free to browse my project’s page or my Etsy shop for more inspiration!
Crazy talent, as usual. Your lines are so straight!
Amazing and beautiful!!!
I love this! I have definitely been thinking of how to get some of cw textiles into my home…can’t wait to try this!
beautiful…as always! awesome sarah!!
Came over from SMD because I just had to see this project. Beautiful work, as always! I am considering stenciling my own duvet cover b/c the design I wanted was a comforter (not duvet cover), color was slightly off and way too expensive for something that usually does not last, so this has given me a bit more confidence.
Oh, and I’ve been playing around with creating a few pattern stencils myself so thanks for the tip about splitting into two to make it work.
Any tips for achieving a kind of geometric watercolor design? And, is there a specific finish that is more desirable when using latex paint and fabric medium (flat, satin, etc.)?
Cutest pillows ever!! Great job
Love the pillows. Great talent!! Thanks for sharing.
Nancy
LOVE these! I can’t believe those are stenciled! Reason number 187,654 that I need to get a Silhouette! Thanks so much for sharing!
~Abby =)
Sarah is one of my faves!! Super talented and sweet! This is such a good idea 🙂 xo Kristin
Beautiful! And simple…
These look so professional! How do you keep the lines so crisp?
Hi Ann Marie! For fabric it helps to be on a flat surface, such as a table top. Before applying paint it helps to remove as much paint as possible on a paper towel, and then apply more as needed. This significantly reduces the amount of paint under the stencil. Finally, with your other hand, hold the stencil down where you are painting. Hope this helps!
Hi Lauren! I like to use flat/matte paint for textiles, satin works well too though. I haven’t experimented with watercolor on textiles, but sounds fun! I’d love to try sometime!
I love this! Do the pillows come out crusty when they dry or hard?
The fabric medium helps prevent it from feeling too stiff.
Hello! What setting did you use on your Silhouette to cut the .007 plastic? Thanks!
Hi Hillary! I use speed 1, thickness 33, blade 5, double cut (sometimes I run it through one more time if it doesn’t cut on two.
Hi Meghan! The thin paint lines are pretty soft, the thicker striped lines are a little harder. I’d recommend sticking with thin lines for a softer finish.
I’m curious about the IKEA Gurli shams, aside from stenciling them. I was considering buying a royal blue one but having only seen them online, I am unsure about the quality and how they look up close. Yours look nice here but in other photos they look a bit lumpy. Maybe it’s just that other people didn’t use a large enough pillow form inside?
They are great – a nice thick canvas. I will say though if you purchase the pillow forms from IKEA they are crap. That might be why they look lumpy in other pictures. I always buy my pillow forms from JoAnn Fabrics instead.
Beautiful!!
Measure it out with painters Tape and try not to use runny paint