Wife, Mother, Gardener: How to Make Pillows using Wax Paper Transfer

Chairs with French themed pillows in our library room

One more house project, and this one is my favorite: new pillows for my pretty chairs in the library.

I started with this lovely vintage french bird and wreath from The Graphics Fairy. I personalized it by adding some pretty text underneath that says, "Havenwood 1925," which is the year that our house was built. I needed to use my computers preview program to make a reverse image so that the text would not be backwards. (Some computers will do this reverse image in the printing set-up options.)

Pillow and materials

So here is what you will need...

Flour Sack Kitchen Towels (Walmart!)
Waxed paper
Damp washcloth
scissors
a free reversed image from The Graphics Fairy
ink jet printer
hairdrier (optional)
iron
thread/machine/needle for sewing
pillow stuffing

I used the Wax paper transfer method, which has worked for me on finished wood, unfinished wood and fabric.

Finished Havenwood pillow!

Steps:

Chose the image you would like to print and make a reverse if it includes text.
Cut out a 8 1/2 x 11 piece from your waxed paper.
Place it carefully in your ink jet printers paper tray, with the sides curling upward. (I found that this way it fed smoothly into my printer. Curling down, it jammed.)
Lay your flour sack cloth flat on a table and decide where you are going to make your print. Go over that area with your slightly damp washcloth to make it evenly damp.
Print out your reversed image on the waxed paper. Carefully carry it to your work area.
Turn the ink side down and place it exactly where you want it on your lightly wetted material.
Use a credit card or flat object to smooth over the whole design.
Peel off waxed paper to reveal your image.
If it is too wet, it may start to run (see below). This can be stopped quickly by drying with a hairdrier. If too dry, it may not print darkly enough (see below).
Set the ink by going over it with an iron. This will help the ink not too fade when put in the wash.
To make your pillow, fold in in half with the image inside the fold. Sew around the edge in the shape you would prefer for your pillow (square, rectangular, circular) while leaving a few inches open on one seam.
Turn your pillow right side out through the open hole in the seam.
Stuff in your stuffing & Sew up your hole. (Note: you will get a smoother pillow by using a pillow form, but you will need to use its dimensions when sewing it up, so it is not quite so customizable... or convenient if you are excited about making one of these right now and do not have a form, which was my situation. :) )

Little too wet... (grab a hairdrier!)

Maybe a little too dry on lower right.

Finished french pillows

I hope you are able to have some fun with that one at your own home!

And I thought I would share a little more of the crazy art that was going on here this past week...