DIY: Stencil Text on Fabric

January 16th, 2012

Have you tried fabric markers yet? I finally got around to it, and they work great. Paired with a stencil you can use them to stencil your favorite quote on a tea towel, apron, t-shirt, table runner, pillow cover, place mat, cloth napkin, old pair of blue jeans—anything you can think of!

Supplies:
fabric item you want to stencil on (this shop has some great linen pillow covers)
some cardboard
a pencil
a letter stencil (I have this one.)
a fabric marker (I loved my black Sharpie fabric marker!)

DIY stencil throw pillow

After choosing your quote, wrap your fabric over the cardboard to keep the marker from bleeding through and to keep the fabric stretched out smooth.

Use a pencil to stencil your quote onto the fabric. If you mess up the spacing you can erase the pencil lines and redo them. You can’t fix mistakes when you’re using the fabric marker, so don’t skip the pencil step.

Once you’ve penciled everything in, go at it with your fabric marker! I found it easiest to use the stencil for the outline of each letter, and then remove the stencil to fill the letters in.

The Sharpie fabric marker packaging didn’t say anything about heat setting the ink, but I will probably press my fabric before I wash it, just to be safe.

164 Comments

  1. Hey there! Just wanted to let you know we featured you in our Favorite Find Fridays post over at Whimsically Homemade. We used one of your pictures. If that’s a problem let us know and we’ll remove it immediately. Thanks for your great inspiration!

  2. I Love this pillow idea!! I’m going to try it!! Also, what kind of dog is that? He is adorable!
    Lin

  3. Karen

    I loved this pillow & also thought the price was out of sight. So happy I found your tutorial. I will use it.

  4. Kathy Gera

    Beat idea!

  5. Maria Heredia

    wow, need to make one right away.

  6. Ashley

    I just finished my first pillow case and I’m obsessed! I’m getting married in September and I’m making about 6 of them for the benches in the barn, they will be something I will have forever! Some say our names with our wedding date and others will have love quotes! Thanks so much for this wonderful idea!

  7. Just wanted to let you know that I featured these throw pillows today at my DIY Throw Pillow round up.
    http://thecraftedsparrow.blogspot.com/2012/04/15-great-ideas-for-diy-throw-pillows.html#more

  8. Karen

    Can you tell me what size pillow cover (18×18 or 20×20) & what size stencil you used? I really love this & no you are not the only one who thought the price of this pillow was redic. I pinned it so as not to forget about it. (I am quite elderly) but do want to do this for my new bedroom.

  9. This is an awesome pillow – and for people who don’t want to sew, they can still have a great DIY home decor project. I love the words you chose too! You should definitely enter this into the Craftbaby DIY Throw Pillow contest: http://www.craftbaby.com/contests/9/diy-throw-pillows-sweeps

  10. leslie dawes

    I did this pillow for my Mom’s birthday and posted it on pinterest! I put link to your tutorial on my comments section…tons of people have repinned it!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!
    http://pinterest.com/pin/178384835210594819/

  11. I just love this pillow, you have made something very special, I will try this!

  12. Becky

    Can you please tell me where you found the 1.25″ stencil. I have look all over the internet. Thank you for the help.

  13. Amelia

    I love this idea! I am going to make one as a graduation gift! I was just wondering about the pillow case – if I order a 20×20 case, should I order a 20×20 pillow to fill it? I read somewhere that the insert should be slightly smaller, is this true?

  14. Kat

    I tried this myself and loved how it turned out- thanks so much for the tutorial!

  15. Linda

    Can’t wait to make one for my daughter. She has quotes and lines from screenplays all over her apartment. Hope mine turns out as beautifully as yours. Thanks for the tutorial.

  16. I clicked on this on pinterest because this is one of my favorite quotes in the whole wide world. I’m so glad you used this – it made my day. Thanks :)

  17. Sue Nelson

    What a fabulous idea – so creative. Thank you for the info – I plan on making a few for my daughters as gifts, they will love them.

  18. Annfill

    Thanks for the great idea. Your dog is adorable and matches your decor perfectly.

  19. This is so cute! I never have too many pillows, what a great idea!

  20. Lovely work… My throw pillow is so going to get a makeover!

  21. Vicky

    It’s great! I love the idea but there are two questions:
    1) What’s the quote you wrote on the pillow?
    2) Can I use something else insted of fabric maker and letter stencil?
    My parents won’t let me buy that and I’m 12 years so I can’t ignore them (I’m out of money)…

    • Amanda (wit & whistle)

      The quote I used on the pillow is right here: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/470633

      I can’t really think of a substitute for a fabric marker and a letter stencil for this project. They are kind of the essence of the whole project. :) If you have really neat handwriting maybe you could skip the stencil and just write on the fabric. You could try using a regular permanent marker rather than a fabric marker, but it may fade more when you wash it.

  22. Patsy

    Thank you so much for sharing this, it is my next craft project. This is such a wonderful pillow and the picture with your doggie is adorable!

  23. I <3 your tutorials! Beautiful photos
    thanks for sharing

  24. Marissa

    Yay!! Dr. Seuss!! Love the pillow!

  25. LOVE this idea! After the pillow, I May have to try a duvet cover….I’m a writer :) love to be surrounded by words…

  26. erinn stine

    love this idea!!! where did you get the other pillow in the photo? it is too cute!

  27. Love this idea, its look good and it would be a unique present for someone. Thanks for the steps

  28. Michelle

    Excited to try this out! Also, where is your other couch pillow from (very curious)?

  29. Hi Amanda

    Thanks again for the inspiration and instruction. I’ve now put up pictures of my personalised NYC inspired stencil pillow cases on my blog. I can’t believe how gorgeous they turned out to be (my craft history is very limited :).
    http://www.alittlebigapple.com/2012/07/diy-personalised-new-york-souvenirs.html

  30. Estefania

    Amanda im inspired by your work, truly awesome! i already bought some material for my new pillow :) i wanted to ask you about your website theme…i just started a website on my own for my cartoons and photography (no open to the public yet) i would love to know how you made your theme! If you could please get back to me it would be so appreciated! keep up the hard work!

    • Amanda (wit & whistle)

      Have fun making your pillow! :) I made my theme in WordPress. I started with a very basic free theme and edited the CSS and PHP to make it my own.

  31. Stephanie

    I am just moving into my first house in a few weeks and I have been looking for some unique DIY things to do to make our new house a home. We are not married yet but we do have two cute little pups! Looking forward to making one of these and thanks so much for the inspiration!

  32. KC

    I am leaving my current job of 7 years for another and was trying to think of a great idea to give to close friends at work. I love this idea and think i’ll use it. Thanks for the great, easy, short tutorial.

 

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