How to Make a Designer Quality Sepia Tone Photograph Pillow

This is by far one of the easiest, most inexpensive crafts to make for your home and at a price that is mere pennies on the dollar. Spying a pillow similar to this one in a decorator catalogue some time ago, when looking for accents for my bedroom, not only was I frustrated that the only images offered were that of Paris and not Italy, but the price of over $100 a pillow for these handcrafted items was far beyond my budget.

Thinking logically, I mentally took apart the pillow and decided that I could (and would) reproduce it and in fact, personalize it for my family. Having sepia and caramel tones in my bedroom already, I knew what color family I was looking for in terms of the fabric needed for the pillow. This can be one of the hardest parts of the construction of this pillow, as colors are so varied and lighting in stores changes tones horribly.

I strongly suggest you take an item such as a pillow sham or something that best shows the color family with you when you search for fabric. It will help eliminate the problem of "almost but not quite" when it comes to matching. And to be quite honest, some decorator fabrics can be quite pricey so a match is important in terms of budget the first time.

Materials needed:

Muslin or smooth cream cotton fabric, approximately ½ yard will make 2-3 pillows depending upon pillow size

Decorator fabric...1-1/2 yards depending on pillow size and yardage width. Usually one yard will be sufficient for 2 pillows.

Trim for extra decoration. Approximately 2 yards will work for 2 pillows

Stuffing. 2 bags of polyfill

Thread, needles and pins

Image of your choosing

Printer

Image transfer printer paper

Simple ntstructions:

Choosing your image, resize it to the size needed for the middle panel of your pillow. Using a pillow of approximately 24 finished inches as an example, this image will be about 8" wide. Not quite the entire width of a sheet of transfer film

Adjust the color of your image to match the tones in your fabric. Print a test sheet on plain paper to check color.

When color is acceptable, print on transfer film and set aside.

Cut two panels approximately 8 ½" wide and 11" long ( a regular sheet of paper works well for a pattern)

Cut center panel of cream fabric 8 ½ wide and 11" long as well, press well with iron and set aside.

Taking image transfer sheet, trim close to edge of image. This can be straight edges or roughly cut edges. The effect is different with each so it is each person's choice.

Taking image, place print side down on cream fabric. Holding in place with finger (being careful not to be burnt) or secure with fabric tape. Iron image in place. Follow manufacturers instructions on how to do this properly as each manufacturer have different tips.

After removing the image paper backing as indicated on package instructions. Place one panel of fabric on either side of image. Pin in place and sew with sewing machine ¼ inch from edge.

Taking this panel, VERY CAREFULLY, iron seams towards accent fabric, do not iron the design panel.

Placing this finished panel on accent fabric. Pin in place and cut backing to fit.
Sew in place leaving area open to stuff pillow.

Turn right side out and finger pressing seams, fill with polyfill, pin edges and hand sew closed.

IF trim is desired, it can be hand sewn on after stuffing. I prefer hand sewing so as to protect the fabric image. It can become fragile if mistreated or handled roughly.

And there you have it. A pillow that cost approximately 1/5 of a decorator price. AND you have the image you wish as well.

This is exceptionally beautiful if you use old family photos or images from vacations. One note of importance. If you are planning to sell these items do NOT use copyright images. There are many areas online where copyright free images can be found so please respect copyright laws when designing your pillows! Thank you and good luck on your project!