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How to Doily Stencil a Cushion / Pillow

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It is very easy to stencil a cushion or pillow with doilies.

I gave my outdoor canvas cushions a bit of a makeover by using doilies as stencils to paint pretty patterns on them.

It was a very affordable and fun pillow upcycle that gave great results for very little effort. I warn you it is a very addictive craft, as the cushions are so lovely. It’s very tempting to make many stenciled pillows, I’m on the lookout for more fabric.

I got so carried away with using doilies as stencils I even painted some old vintage plates for a cute upcycle.


 A couple of weeks ago I made some Map Table Mats. When I was putting them away in the kitchen with all my other table stuff, such as paper napkins and cloths, I struggled to shut the drawer. It was time for a clear out!

Brighten up your cushions by painting them using a doily as a stencil

Firstly I discovered that I must stop buying paper napkins no matter how pretty they are. Secondly, I found right at the bottom a packet of paper doilies.

I’m not one normally for fancy doilies, these must have been leftover from the traditional English garden party we held for the Queen’s diamond jubilee.

These doilies did, however, give me an idea and that didn’t involve cucumber sandwiches and Victoria sponge cake. I would use them as a stencil.

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Doily Stencil a Cushion/Pillow

What you need to stencil a pillow

How to doily stencil a cushion / pillow

How to Doily Stencil a Pillow

1. First, remove the cover from the cushion / pillow. Then using the repositionable spray mount, spray one side of your doily. Place the doily on the cushion where you want to stencil.

I liked to create a random pattern with my doilies on the cushion covers and used doilies in an assortment of sizes as well as patterns.

Top tip: If you don’t want to use spray paint another method is to pin the pillow cover to a foam board to stop it moving around and to pin the doily stencil to cushion cover.

The idea is to make sure that the cushion/pillow and doily don’t move while stenciling.

Doily Stencilling a cushion / pillow


 

 
2. Next, it is time to add the acrylic paint. With these cushions I painted with the acyrilic paint neat and they have lasted well.

However, I have since discovered fabric medium which if added to acrylic paint turns it into fabric paint which makes it more robust when washing.

When painting with a stencil it is best to use a foam brush and to use a dabbing motion. Load up the foam brush with not too much paint and dab it over the holes in the doilies until all the fabric is covered.

Stencilling a cushion / pillow with a doily

3. When you have finished stenciling the cushion quickly and carefully remove the doily.

Especially if you have used repositionable spray rather than pinning. If you leave the doily too long on the pillow it will get stickier and be harder to remove.

Stenciling with doilies

4. Repeat with the next doily until you have the pattern you want. The paper doilies will get wet so it is best to use a fresh doily with each pillow stencil.

Stenciled doily cushion / pillow.

 
5. To finish off, if you just used paint and no fabric medium you will need to seal soften the doily stenciled pillow.

To do this, once the paint is thoroughly dry, spritz the paint with a 50/50 mixture of clear vinegar and water. Then place a clean cotton cloth such as a tea towel in between the paint and the iron, iron with a hot iron.

spraying the doily stenciled pillow
_DSC0427 sm
Doily Stenciled Cushions - Fun easy craft full tutorial


I love how these cushions turned out. It is best to use a paint colour that contrasts with your cushion cover.

So if you have dark cushion covers then use a light paint. For example, I used a navy blue cushion and white paint. If you have a light cushion cover use dark paint.

I had a light turquoise cushion and stenciled with dark blue paint. I’m tempted to go and by some more colorful cushion covers and try out lots of different color combinations.

Dark paint doily stencil
Doily stencilled cushion, really easy to do for great results.
Brighten up your cushions by painting them using a doily as a stencil

These doily stenciled pillows sit on my outdoor sofa in the summer. Since making the doily pillows I have Shibori dyed the sofa cushions and the doily pillows go really well with them.

There are more ideas of stenciling with paper doilies here. I also have a tutorial for turning vintage cloth doilies into a cute angel wings ornament.

I have also stenciled a denim fish pillow but this time I used bleach instead of paint.

As well as stenciling fabrics I have stenciled a wooden pallet in my garden to make a Moroccan painted wood planter wall that matches these cushions very well. I’ve also made a pineapple stenciled table for my living room.

Doily Stencil a cushion or pillow

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. Kellie

    This is so pretty! I love how the cushions came out! And what a great blog you have! Thank you so much for linking up to our Waste not Wednesday Link up!

    Reply

  4. Lisa

    Simply beautiful and easy to do! Love this idea and I have some pillow inserts that need covering. I know what I’m doing now! Thanks for linking up this fantastic tutorial on Happiness is Homemade – we’ve featured it this week!

    Reply

  9. Mary-the boondocks blog

    These are just too cute Claire. Did you spray on the water and vinegar to seal the paint on the fabric? That is a new trick I did not know. Pinning and sharing. Thank you for giving us loads of sweet inspiration in a small package.

    Reply

  13. LydiaF

    Claire I love how pretty your project turned out. I will definitely keep the doily stencil idea in mind. Wouldn’t it be great on a little tote bag, too? Thanks for linking with us at Creatively Crafty #ccbg Hope to see you again! 🙂

    Reply

  14. Wynn

    These are very very pretty. Lve the contrasting colours you’ve used. Have you tried washing them .I just wondered how they would stand up to hand washing. Awesome idea and thank you for sharing. Wynn x

    Reply

    • Claire Armstrong

      I haven’t washed them yet, but accidently left them out in the rain the other day and they were fine. They should be ok on low temp easy wash. I have used acrylics on other fabrics and they are still going strong. The heat sealing process with the iron helps.

      Reply

  22. Sue Nelson

    I loved this idea and how it turned out. I have started to redo my bathroom, and everything is done in white and a teal color. I made a cute bathroom shelf using an old house shutter and I put white porcelain brackets on it, and white porcelain hooks for towels. However, I used a chalk paint. Now I need a new shower curtain but the only way to match the color is to use that same chalk paint. So I was wondering, if I buy a fabric shower curtain, would I be able to do this same stencil ing technique using chalk paint? Would I still be able to seal it using a hot iron? I hope to hear back from you soon as I’d love to get started on it and finish my bathroom. Thank you for your great ideas!

    Reply

    • Claire Armstrong

      I’m not sure about the chalk paint, but it’s worth trying it out first on an old piece of fabric. I have seen lots of tutorials on like for painting fabric with chalk paint so it may be worth googling it to see if you need to set it or how they do it.

      Reply

  23. Pam

    These turned out so pretty! I’d never heard that technique for setting acrylic paint. Can’t wait to try it! Thank you for sharing at the Creatively Crafty link party.

    Reply

  24. Lynn

    Claire…these are fantastic. They look a little Indian Batik-ish. How fun. And I love that you used your doily stash! Those pillows will forever remind you the Diamond Jubilee now, which is really neat. Thanks for sharing your creativity with the rest of us.
    Wishing you a lovely weekend.
    Hugs, Lynn

    Reply

  27. Laura

    What a pretty project and the final product is lovely.
    The colors of the pillows you chose are perfect.
    Thank you for being at TOHOT.

    Reply

  31. Nadia

    Oh how lovely….! I’m definitely going to do this as I’ve already got some doilies…..just need to pick up some acrylic paint when I go to the shops later on…. 🙂

    Reply

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