How to Make Heart Pillows – A Printmaking Project for Valentine’s Day!

I’m still loving the heart doily prints!

Besides the t-shirts I printed last time, I also printed some hearts on plain fabric — white cotton and natural muslin. Then I sewed them up into little heart pillows.

They are each stuffed with a combination of millet and lavender flowers, so besides being decorative, they can be used as soothing hot/cold packs. They can be heated up in the microwave (or in a low oven for us since we don’t have a microwave) or put in the freezer.

How to Make Heart Pillows

MATERIALS

• Sewing machine
• White cotton fabric or Natural muslin
• Fabric paint (or BioColor paint mixed with a special BioColor fabric medium)
• Paper heart doilies
• Mini paint roller
• Brayer (optional)
• Acrylic box frame (optional)
• Newspaper and/or scrap paper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Lay out doily

First, lay the heart doily right side up on a sheet of newspaper or paper. Have another piece of paper handy nearby.

2. Cut a piece of fabric

Next, cut two heart-shaped pieces of fabric large enough to print the doily on. Allow a few extra inches of space around the print for sewing the seams together. Set one aside.

3. Prepare paint

Now pour a small amount of paint onto a plate (I used an old acrylic box frame) and roll your paint roller around to evenly coat it with paint.

4. Coat doily evenly with paint

Roll your paint-covered roller over the doily, coating it as evenly as possible with the paint. (You could use a paint brush or foam brush for this step, but the paint may not be applied as evenly.)

5. Position doily on fabric

Set your doily, paint side down, on the center of the piece of fabric.

6. Print heart design

Lay an extra piece of paper over the doily. Use your hard rubber brayer (or rolling pin) to roll over the paper and doily to transfer the paint evenly to the fabric.

7. Remove doily & let dry

Lift the paper and doily off to reveal your heart print.

8. Sew pillow together

• Place a printed piece of fabric together with a heart shaped piece of white fabric.
• Pin together and sew a 1/4″ seam around leaving a 1 inch gap open.
• Turn right side out and stuff with millet and lavender flowers.
• Hand stitch the remaining gap together.

I’m thinking these would be nice to send a child to bed with at night, perhaps warmed up first, to help them fall asleep. Or to use to soothe a bruised knee (or ego).

I love the weight and heft the millet gives these, too! They feel great in my hands.

And the lavender is nice and calming.

More Printed Heart Shirts

I had some friends over for some more heart doily printing recently. I was going to print more for the heart doily pillows and decided it would be a good opportunity for friends to bring a t-shirt or two to print while everything was set up.

We started with red hearts, then got out the black fabric paint and tried some black ones as well! This is getting rather addictive…

How about you? What is your favorite Valentine’s Day craft project? Leave a comment below!

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