Painted Throw Pillows

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If you’ve been here recently you already know I have piles of throw pillows to keep my comfy level maxed out. You may also know I’ve painted throw pillows before. But after getting my hands on a new design for our living room I was itching to use those fabric painting tricks again. These painted throw pillows have a completely different feel than my first attempt but I think they are just as successful! 

Originally, I ordered these pillow cases to use as is. And they did live happily on our wicker arm chair for some time. But after adding the throw blanket pillow cases and seeing how punchy the colors were I knew this pillow case needed something to liven it up!

When I was considering how to add those punches of color I was reminded of star patterned quilts and adult coloring books. Both of them have negative space which I wanted to replicate to keep the design from getting too busy. I started playing with options in my sketch book and made sure the colors matched up with the other pieces already in the living room.

Once I got the pattern mapped out and the colors finalized I set up for painting. The only prep you really need to do is wash/dry the pillow case and place a magazine(or other barrier) inside. This keeps the paint from bleeding through to the other side of your pillow case. You can also add a small amount of fabric medium to your paints. This will keep the painted sections pliable.

I used a soft medium sized brush to fill in the larger portions of the design. This helped get most of the spaces filled quickly. I later filled in the edges with a small flexible brush. The paint will get a bit watered down in consistency from the fabric medium. Although, I found using a damp brush also helps with fluidity. This was mostly helpful when I was working on the edging. Be sure to add water sparingly as it may make your paint “bleed”.

It only took a few Netflix reruns to fill in the design and I think the pay off was well worth the time. So another throw pillow success in the books! Ha!

Have you tried any throw pillow DIYs lately? Painted any fabric? Tell me all about it in the comments!