Stenciled Pillow Tutorial

I purchased an incredible stencil from Royal Design Studio last month and have been dying to use it. It's French script of a beautiful poem about Springtime. Right now, though, I have no time to use it on a wall, so I decided to try it on my new pillow covers in my family room. I wanted something subtle, so I choose a white fabric paint for the off-white canvas. The stencil is huge and Royal Design Studio provides great instructions for using it -- how to line it up, etc. I read them over and adapted them to a smaller surface area. 

You will need: fabric paint, cardboard, painter's tape, and a stencil brush or a sponge pouncer (for fabric stenciling).

Here's the tutorial...

1. First, wash and dry the fabric to remove any sizing.

2. Use a cardboard (I used leftover poster board) to insert in between the fabric of the pillow cover so the paint won't bleed to the other side.

3. Next, line up the stencil and tape it down so it doesn't shift when using it. I recommend using painter's tape, but I didn't have any so I used packing tape Note: definitely use painter's tape on a wall.

4. Begin stenciling using a stippling technique to work the paint into the fabric. When painting on fabric that is as absorbent as canvas, you will use a bit more paint, but you will still need to "offload" the brush so it doesn't seep under the stencil. I had to go over my pattern a few times until I figured out just how much paint to use.

5. Remove the stencil and let your fabric dry. You can heatset the paint on the fabric by tossing it into the drier for about an hour.

The result: I love the subtleness of this stencil on fabric. I can't wait to stencil another pillow! Note: I originally had a giveaway associated with this post hence all the comments...