Like many creatives, I often find myself daydreaming about my next big sewing project even before my current project is complete. Whether in the car, walking my dog or even brushing my teeth, custom fabric projects are always on the brain. While on a trail run, I dreamt up my race bib running top. Most recently, while getting the mail, the lightbulb went off for custom pillows inspired by vintage envelopes. 

These pillows look great on Linen Cotton Canvas and Recycled Canvas but I was excited to try Spoonflower’s newest fabric, Lightweight Cotton Twill. This lightweight fabric is both soft and durable, is easy to work with, and is a perfect addition to your couch when made into a pillow.

Lightweight cotton twill pillow
Personalize your next wedding gift with a Lightweight Cotton Twill pillow. Ready to Fly wallpaper by Meredith Macleod

3 custom pillows for only $7.80 each!
16″ pillows are ready to be sewn and delivered to three newlywed couples!

Supplies

  • 1 yard of new Lightweight Cotton Twill makes three 16″ pillows (finished size is 15″ square). Only want one pillow? Order the front and the back as two separate fat quarters.
  • iron
  • scissors or rotary blade
  • straight pins
  • coordinating thread
  • Fiber fill

Want to bypass the graphic design portion of this tutorial and get right to personalizing, ordering and sewing? To make a pillow just like ours, you can download our design template to add your custom details to here.

Lightweight Cotton Twill wedding pillow
Personalized details like the wedding ceremony address make this gift one of a kind

Step 1. Create Your Design Canvas

Create a design canvas in Photoshop

To get started, set-up a Photoshop canvas at the size you’d like your finished pillow to be, making sure to include any seam allowance. My pillows will be 15” x 15” with a ½” seam allowance so my canvas will be 16” x 16” or 2400 x 2400 pixels.

Step 2. Add a Textured Background

Add a textured background

Textured paper backgroun

Once you’ve created your canvas, add a textured background to mimic paper. I created my background in Photoshop but you can also find great pre-made digital paper backgrounds on Etsy or www.textures.com To add your background, select File > Place Embedded and choose the background texture. 

If you plan to use this background for the back of your pillow, save your file as a Photoshop file and JPG before moving to step 3. To save a file, select File > Save As and choose the JPG or Photoshop option. I recommend saving this file under the name Wedding Pillow _ Back.

Step 3. Add Mailing Address 

Wedding ceremony address on pillow
Add the wedding ceremony or reception address for an extra personalized pillow.

Wedding ceremony address

The part that really makes this gift one of a kind is the addition of the couple’s wedding details. Select the text tool and add the church or venue address where the couple is getting married.

Step 4. Add Postage Stamps

Stamps on fabric
Vintage stamps give this pillow a realistic envelope feel!

Add stamps to your design canvas

Vintage stamps
The design canvas is looking more like a vintage envelope with the addition of stamps!

To create a mailed letter effect on your pillow, add images of postage stamps to your canvas. Etsy is a great resource for digital downloads and I used this set from KGAKreationsLLC. Once you have your images, add each stamp to your canvas by selecting File > Place Embedded and select your stamp.

Step 5. Add Custom Time Stamp

Wedding time stamp on pillow
A custom time stamp, using the wedding ceremony details, is one more way to make your gift extra personalized.

Photoshop time stamp example

To add a final element of personalization to your pillow, create a custom time stamp. I used this helpful tutorial but if this feels too advanced, you can leave this off the pillow. I like to use the wedding date information in the stamp, so knowing the time of the ceremony, date and city of the wedding will be helpful.

Add the custom time stamp

Once you’ve created the stamp, save the file as a JPG  and add it to the canvas following the embedding directions in step 4.

Step 6. Save Your File

Once complete, save the file as a PSD (Photoshop document) and JPG, making sure to RENAME your file to ensure you don’t override the background file you saved in step 2.

Step 7. Order Your Fabric

Order the front of the fabric

Order the back of the fabric

At this point, you can order the front and back of your pillows as fat quarters. Once logged into your Spoonflower account, select Design > Upload and choose the JPG version for the front of the pillow. Select the Lightweight Cotton Twill and fat quarter options in the drop down menus. When ordering a 16″ x 16″ design on a fat quarter, be sure to select the center repeat option to ensure you get one complete image! Add the design to your cart.

Repeat step 7 for the backside of your pillow.

One yard of lightweight cotton twill
One yard of Lightweight Cotton Twill can yield three 16″ x 16″ pillows!

If you’re like me and find yourself attending more weddings than you can count, this pillow design can come in handy! In Photoshop, I was able to fit six 16” x 16” panels on one yard of Lightweight Cotton Twill (58″ x 36″). Just save one big file with all 6 pillow pieces as a JPG and upload it to Spoonflower.

Finished pillow
Once your fabric arrives, sew your pillows following your favorite tutorial.

Not attending a wedding in the near future? This project could work as a house warming gift for new home owners using their new address and move-in date! Inspired to make your own custom envelope pillow? Be sure to share your project with us by tagging #spoonflower.

-Meredith