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Home » Sewing » How to Make Thumbprint Design Envelope Pillows

How to Make Thumbprint Design Envelope Pillows

May 21, 2020 Cristina Garay 26 Comments

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Envelope pillows are the easiest pillow covers to sew. Combine a beautiful pillow with a personalized thumbprint design and you have a great gift idea for parents or grandparents!

How to Make Thumbprint Design Pillows

How to Make Thumbprint Design Envelope Pillows

Hello, it’s Cristina from Remodelando la Casa once again happy to share an easy and fun project where kids are more than welcome to give a helping “thumb” 🙂

Thumbprint starfish pillow2 with tag

Envelope pillows are the easiest pillow covers I’ve sewn and let me tell you, my sewing skills are not that good.  A fabric rectangle is folded to create an “envelope”, four simple straight lines to sew and your cover is done! No zippers, no Velcro, the envelope holds the pillow really well.

Materials:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

  • Fabric (I used drop cloth material), and all the necessary sewing materials.
    • If you don’t have a sewing machine, this is a project you can put together using Stitch Witchery.
  • Fabric paint colors:
    • Glacier White, Royal Blue, and Marine Blue)
  • Contact paper
  • X-acto knife
  • 17″ x 17″ pillow forms

*Pre-wash and iron the fabric

Instructions:

For a 17″ x 17″ pillow insert, use the following dimensions.

Envelope pillow 17x17

Once the fabric is cut to size (18″x 40″), hem the left and right edges.  (Fold  in ½”  twice, as seen in the picture below.  Iron it flat and hem.)  Do the same on the other side.

envelope pillow side hems

To create the opening on the back, fold the left side over and iron.

Envelo pillow first fold

Do the same on the other side.  These folded lines are a good visual point to help you center the design on the front face of the pillow later on.

envelope pillow second fold

Before sewing across the top and bottom of the cover, let’s work on the design (the fun part!)  Print the starfish and seahorse silhouettes. (for these pillows print at 120%.)

starfish and seahorse silhouttes

Place each design on top of a big piece of contact paper, tape it in place.

starfish profile

Using the x-acto knife, cut through the printout and the contact paper following the outline of the silhouette.

cutting starfish profile out

After cutting, peel off the outer piece of contact paper and center the design on your pillow cover.  Press the contact paper firmly all around the design to prevent paint from seeping through.

contact paper silhouete on fabric

Now it’s time to call all those little artists and give them each a set of fabric paint.

kids thumbpainting

The thumb-printing / painting can begin…

thumb painting

…until the shapes are filled.

thumbprint starfish and seahorse

Let it dry according to the paint manufacturer’s instructions.  After the paint dries you can sew across the top and bottom, making sure the designs are on the inside.

sawing across envelope pillowIf desired, wash and iron the pillow covers. Insert your pillow form.

Thumbprint seahorse pillow front and back

Place it on your favorite chair and enjoy!

Thumbprint starfish pillow1

Our pillows are a present for a special person close to our hearts.

Thumbprint pillows with tag-2

Of course, the artists had to sign it, or thumbprint it! Well, we did both!

Thumbprint pillows with tag

Are you ready to give the thumb printing a try?  Kids love it!  Hint, hint… this could be a nice project for Father’s Day (or Mother’s Day).

Photobucket

  ~ Learn more about Cristina ~

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arts and craft, Crafts, decor, Decorating, gifts, Home Decor, kids art, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques, Pillows, Sewing

Comments

  1. Gena Fausel says

    June 20, 2020 at 8:51 am

    Love this! But how do I print the starfish and sea horse Designs?

    Reply
    • Brittany Bailey says

      June 21, 2020 at 6:47 pm

      It’s in the instructions. Look for the text “Print the starfish and seahorse…” Then click on the starfish or sea horse text to open the silhouettes.)

      Reply
  2. Melanie says

    August 18, 2016 at 9:21 pm

    These are SUPER CUTE!! Thanks for posting. I’ve been looking for fun ideas and crafts to do with my 3 year old girl now that her older brother is in school. She will love it!!

    Reply
  3. Valerie says

    May 5, 2016 at 1:20 am

    Think Girl Scouts will be doing this project on dish towels! Thank you for the great idea! I will also be using freezer paper to cut my designs out on, as you can iron it onto the fabric and make a great seal…. and I have it on hand! Thank again!

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Brittany aka Pretty Handy Girl. I like the smell of coffee and sawdust in the morning. I live to break stereotypes and empower you to take on your own DIY project.

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