DIY Abstract Painted Pillows

Hi, friends! Today I am excited to share a fun DIY for making abstract pillow cases with fabric paint, working with our good friends over at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores. This past year I've been obsessed with abstract everything from paintings to textiles to home decor pieces. And in this new year, one of my big goals is to refresh all my spaces, even if it's something as small as a new simple accent. I have been crushing on these pillows since I spotted them on Gal Meets Glam a while back, and wanted to try my hand at creating something inspired by them! And, of course, I couldn't stop without doing a colorful abstract pillow as well!

Supplies Needed: For each set of two pillows you will need 1 yard of white denim (for the front) and 1 yard of black or colored denim (for the back). You will also need fabric paint. I like matte fabric paints best, but I'll branch out to any type to get the right colors for the colorful pillow. You'll also need a used gift card. A sewing machine is optional. If you don't want to sew, buy pre-made plain pillow covers. For pillow forms (I used the 20" x 20" and 24" x 24" sizes).

The painting process is super simple! 1. Squirt fabric paint directly onto your denim or canvas. You can see here that I used quite a bit. 2. Use the old gift card (or any piece of small, hard plastic) to scrape the paint across the fabric. It will create a different type of line than a paint brush. It's cleaner, but still messy looking in a cool way. It's also MUCH easier to clean up and control your lines. 3. Continue adding lines all over the fabric. 4. Crisscross some of the lines for an interesting effect. Allow the fabric paint to dry completely before sewing.

Next, stitch your pillow up. If you've never sewn a pillow, learn how here!

For the colorful pillow, I did the same exact technique, but created blocks of color instead of lines.

There you have it! An easy, pretty pillow set that you can make to match the colors in your home! This is a DIY I will definitely be repeating in the future! xx. Elsie

Credits// Author: Elsie Larson, Project Assistant: Laura Gummerman. Photography: Laura Gummerman and Emma Chapman. Photos edited with The Signature Collection.