Learn how to make a custom burlap pillow cover, including instructions on how to print on burlap. You’ll love this easy project!
Hello, Ideas for the Home by Kenarryâ„¢ friends! I’m Pam from The Birch Cottage and I’m back to share another DIY project with you. November is a special time for most families here in the U.S. where we all, hopefully, pause for a moment to reflect on all the many blessings in our lives and truly give thanks. In keeping with the “give thanks” theme, I thought I’d share my  Fall Burlap Give Thanks Pillow Cover Tutorial with you this month.
For quite some time now, I have been seeing all these great projects where people were printing on burlap and until this month, I had never even given it a try. It’s just one of those “round-to” things that I never seemed to get around to – until now. I am almost ashamed to tell you that I hadn’t tried this before because it is so simply, ridiculously easy! So, this month’s project is a two-for-one. As I’m actually going to share with you not only how to make an envelope style pillow cover, but also how to print on burlap.
Seriously, this is an easy project. You’ll just want to slap yourself for not trying it sooner! I got the inspiration for my Burlap Give Thanks Pillow Cover Tutorial from two places. First, was Pottery Barn’s Watercolor Painted Pumpkin Patch Lumbar Pillow Cover. But, my real inspiration came from DIY Beautify, who was so gracious enough to share an easy to follow tutorial on how to print on burlap. When I saw the below vintage pumpkin image from the Graphics Fairy, I knew I had to give printing  burlap a try!
And now that I’ve tried it, I just couldn’t wait to share it with you! First, let’s look at how to print on burlap.
How to Print on Burlap
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Burlap Print Supplies:
- Burlap
- Reynolds Freezer Paper
- Scissors
- Iron
- Inkjet Printer
Instructions:
- Simply take a piece of burlap and cut a little larger than you’re finished piece (for my lumbar pillow cover, I cut my burlap about 10″ x 16″).
- Tear off a piece of freezer paper to fit your cut burlap.
- Lay the burlap down on your ironing board and then lay the freezer paper, wax side down, on top of the burlap.
- Iron with your iron on the hot setting, being sure to press the corners. It only takes a few seconds if your iron is nice and hot. Once the freezer paper appears to be adhered to the burlap, you’re finished with the ironing.
- Cut your burlap (with the freeze paper attached) down to your printed size (8-1/2 x 11 inches or 8-1/2 x 14 inches).
- Now you’re ready to print. Follow the applicable directions for printing with your particular printer, being sure to print on the burlap side.
- Done! Finished! Easy peasy!
How to Sew a Pillow Cover
Pillow Cover Supplies:
- Material for pillow cover (I used about 1/4 yard of muslin)
- Matching or coordinating thread for burlap
- Matching or coordinating thread for pillow cover
- Scissors
- Straight pins
- Sewing machine
Instructions:
The Front of the Pillow Cover
Like I said, this really is an easy project. For the next step, I made my pillow cover. I simply used the measurements from the pillow form and added 1/2″ for seam allowances for the front of the pillow cover. Then I cut out a piece of fabric that was 13″ x 24″.
I centered my print on the front of my fabric and top-stitched around the edge of the burlap.
The Back of the Pillow Cover
I also wanted the pillow to be an envelope style as I didn’t want to mess with inserting a zipper, so I cut one piece that was 13″ x  18-1/2″ and one piece that was 13″ x  9-1/2″. I sewed a narrow 1/4″ hem along the short end of each piece. Then laid the front piece face up, laid the longer piece face down on top of the front, and the shorter piece face down on top of the longer and the front. (The two back pieces should now be overlapping by 3″.) Then I simply sewed a 1/2″ seam around the entire edge of the pillow cover, turned the pillow cover inside-out, inserted my pillow form and done!
If you’ve been wanting to give printing on burlap a try, but were a little reluctant like I was, you really should try it with this Fall Burlap Give Thanks Pillow cover tutorial. The next thing you know, you’ll be printing all kinds of things on burlap!
Before you know it, December will be here and I’ll be back sharing another project with you! In the meantime, you might enjoy one of these projects:
Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pudding Cookies
And, since it is November, we can’t help but start thinking about Christmas and this collection of Christmas printables is just the thing to jump start your Christmas planning.
Collection of Christmas Printables
What’s Next?
While you’re here, be sure to check out other craft projects on Ideas for the Home by Kenarryâ„¢ –
cant get anything to print off. Just dead.
Hi Gail, we’re so sorry to hear you were having difficulty printing. Can you tell us a bit more? Were you struggling with printing the pumpkin image from Graphics Fairy or with printing something on burlap?
Gail, although it’s unclear at what stage you are having printing problems, one thing I discovered was that the store brand freezer paper, for some reason, didn’t work, but the Reynolds brand freezer paper worked perfectly. If that doesn’t resolve your problem, please let me know. Also, if you could provide more details, that would be great!