We are in the era of camera phones, and almost everyone has the opportunity to snap photos at moments when it may have been impossible or inconvenient in the past. The result? Lots and lots of photos, and more sentimental memories captured than ever. If you’re like me, then you want to put those extra special photos on display in some creative way. Well, pillows are one of the easiest things to sew, and they can sit in just about any room in the house (plus they make awesome gifts). Okay, let’s get started!
In this design tutorial, I’ll take you step-by-step through designing a pillow using your own photography.
For this project, all you’ll need is a high resolution, digital version of a special photo, a photo editing program like Photoshop, and a few minutes to size it properly for uploading to Spoonflower to print.
I wanted to make a series of square pillows from some black and white photography by Damon Lapas, so I’m going to use the cropping to make this rooster photo into a square. If you want to size your pillow to a rectangle or an odd shape, that’s perfectly fine!
I want this pillow to be a 15″ square, so I’m going to size the image to print at that size by clicking “Image” –> “Image Size” and selecting “inches” from the drop down menus associated with height and width of the image. If the image isn’t exactly 15″ by 15″, that’s okay, but if it’s off by more than 1/2″, try cropping it on the longer side a bit more.
Next, make sure your image is set to 150 DPI because that’s the resolution Spoonflower prints files. Then save the image as a JPEG.
Next, you’ll want to have a plan for the back of your pillow, too. Do you want to print a design in the Spoonflower Marketplace for the back of the pillow, use the same photo for the back, or create your own complimentary design? Since I want to stay with the greyscale theme, I’m going to pick a nice, solid grey color.
I’d like to sew an envelope-back pillow cover, so I multiplied the length by 2 to allow for the overlap on the back plus seam allowances and finished edges. Next, adjust the file resolution to 150 DPI. No matter how you’d like to enclose your pillow, it’s a good idea for the pillow insert (or pillow form) to be slightly larger than the cover so that it fills out the corners better and the pillow looks fluffier. For example, I’m sewing the pillow cover to be 15″x15″, so I got a 16″ pillow form. If you want to do a zipper enclosure instead, try this tutorial.
I added some photo credit text and detail at the bottom of the pillow back design, along with some seam allowance so that the text is not puckered or accidentally sewn into the seam. You may choose to write the location or year that the photo was taken, as it may provide a helpful reminder many years from now.
Once you’ve saved your file as a JPEG, we’re going to place the two files into a new file since both the front and back of the pillow will fit on one yard, then we’ll upload them together as one file. Open a new Photoshop file, name it, and set the width to 54″, the height to 36″, and the DPI to 150.
Next, click “File” > “Place embedded” and select one of your files.
Move the first file to one side of the canvas and click Return or Enter place it.
Repeat this step for the second file.
Now, save the new file as a JPEG and upload your new pillow design to Spoonflower. Make sure you size the design to 1 yard and center it. We using recommend Linen Cotton Canvas, Minky, Organic Cotton Sateen and Lightweight Cotton Twill for making pillows.
Once you get your Spoonflower fabric in the mail, sew the pillow cover and stuff it with the pillow form! (This tutorial in The Spoonflower Handbook called “Portrait Pillows” beginning on page 100 is pretty handy.)
Show us the pillows that you create with your own photos and post your “in-progress” or finished projects on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag #spoonflower and we may repost them to show off your handiwork!
Have fun and let me know how it goes!
Jenny
I con’t have a website. I am just a sea turtle volunteer who wants to surprise her grandson.
I want to make a memory quilt for my grandson.He has Tourettes and this year was named the Tourettes Ambassador to go to Washington DC. Quite an accomplishment for a 6th grader. I copied pictures off Facebook and my daughter in laws page etc., of her and Jacob. and I emailed them to myself. My plan is to make this quilt Teal (the color for Tourettes), grey and black. However there are 3 white stars on the quilt These stars is where i want the picture. The squares for the pictures are white, and unfinished 10″ squares. Unfinished will be just shy of 9 inch squares.Canvas is too heavy for a quilt. What fabric do you recommend for the pictures when The quilt will all be 100% cotton. Can you make this transfer if I send them in an email to you? I have emailed you previously, but I don’t have the equipment to make changes to the pictures. Depending on what you say, I may do more than one in each square.
Hi Suzanne, we recommend Petal Signature Cotton for quilting! Cotton Lawn and Cotton Poplin are also wonderful options. I’m afraid we are not able to upload your emailed files for you, we are only able to print files taht you upload and order through your Spoonflower account. We do however have a wonderful Help team standing by in case you have any questions whatsoever! You can reach them at [email protected]. Best of luck!
Hello Patricia! Yes, you can use your photo printed on fabric for absolutely anything! What project do you have in mind? BTW, here’s a tutorial on hanging canvas photos on the wall incase that’s helpful: http://seekatesew.com/gallery-canvas-wall-with-spoonflower/
Is possible I order just the front, coz I’m not going to make a pillow, I have another project in mind ;-). Tia.
Hi Mary! The fabrics we recommend for pillows start at $27/yard. I used 1 yard of Eco Canvas to make this pillow, which is about $32. Hope that helps!
Sounds like a great gift idea. What is the charge for printing the photo on the fabric you choose?