A Country Girl and Her Camera

Throw Pillows

Level: Beginner
Time to Complete: Twenty minutes to print pictures and prepare for pillows. Another twenty minutes to make and stuff each pillow. 
Cost: Very cheap ($5.99 for 4 sheets of fabric paper, photos (free), and only 8 1/2" x11" of fabric per pillow!)
Things I Would Do Differently: I think it would be best to use close-up, horizontal, colored pictures for this project. For Valentines Day, I am going to surprise the kids with a cute throw pillow for each of their beds. 
Materials Needed: 

• Photos
• Fabric Paper (I purchased the "sew in" kind in white. This color is actually an off-white, so I'm assuming the cream is pretty creamy.
• Sewing supplies
• Stuffing for pillows

This past fall, a long-time family friend posted pictures that she took one day of their property here in Eau Claire. I immediately fell in love with the pictures and asked if I could purchase a few from her. She entitled her CD, A Country Girl and Her Camera, which I think is just adorable.


We won't have a huge amount of wall space on the main floor of our new home due to windows, columns, an open concept, and a simple layout. I knew, however, that I wanted to use these pictures somehow in my dining area but I wasn't exactly sure how at first. A few months back, when I was browsing through a friend's magazine, I came upon an idea of using pictures in pillows. I thought it was brilliant and a simple way to have pictures out without taking up wall space.


Since you know I don't like "wasted space", we're only having one large dining area in our home. (In another post, I'll show you what I found on Craigslist to bring out a rustic and modern dining area.) I also found a cute rustic rocking chair that I'm going to reupholster soon and place in the corner of our dining area next to our hearth. I'm hoping to put these pillows on the rocking chair and maybe make a copy of one of the pictures to put on the fire place mantel.

These are the beautiful pictures that Cassie gave me:

And I chose three of the pictures to make into pillows! 

First, choose your pictures and print them on white paper first to see 

how they print. Next, put in your fabric paper 

FACE DOWN and print your first picture!

After printing your pictures, follow directions on package. 

Let sit for 10 minutes to allow ink to dry.

Take off backing (be careful by the edges). 

Iron for 2-3 minutes on each picture to help the ink set.

This is the only way I'll get my chickens:)

Place your fabric on top of your picture and pin the 

top sides together.

With your machine, sew the tops together first and 

then sew the two sides together.

Before turning the fabric right side up, trim off 

the corners.

Turn pillow right side out and iron seams.

Stuff the pillow.

Pin ends together.

Hand sew the final ends together. Push through

one end with your needle and pull out the other.

And, you're done! That was it!!

The Finished Product