Make a Marbled Fabric Pillow Cover

Create a fabric in the exact colors to match your decor with this trendy marbled fabric pillow case project.

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Materials Needed:

  • 1 yard 100 percent cotton white fabric (enough to make two pillow covers)
  • 1 yard 100 percent cotton backing fabric in the color of your choice
  • three fluid acrylic paint colors
  • three mixing containers
  • paint brush
  • GAC-900 acrylic fabric painting medium
  • alum (available at art supply stores)
  • methocel (available at art supply stores)
  • bucket
  • rectangular plastic bin large enough to hold your pillow size
  • pillow insert
  • iron
  • fabric scissors
  • needle and thread
  • head pins

Pretreat And Cut Fabric

Mix 1 quart warm water with 1/4 cup alum. Soak the fabric for twenty minutes in the alum-water mixture. Wring out and line dry. Iron fabric. You'll need 1 15" square per pillow you want to create, plus 1 15" square of backing fabric.

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Prepare the Marble Base

Use a spoon to dissolve 4 tablespoons of methocel per gallon of warm water in your bucket. Mix for five minutes until water is clear. Pour the marble base into the plastic tray. Let sit for 20 minutes.

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Mix Acrylic Paint With Fabric Medium

In order to make the acrylic paints permanent on the fabric, mix them with GAC-900 fabric medium. The quantity is 1:1 acrylic paint to GAC-900. Tip: Your paint should be the consistency of melted ice cream; add water if needed.

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Add Paint to Marble Base

Start with your darkest color and splatter the paint onto the water with your paint brush. It will start to spread around. Do the same with the next color. Watch how the colors start to marble into each other. Splatter on your third color.

Dip Fabric in Marbled Paint

Take one white fabric square and lay it on top of the paint. Slowly peel it off and watch how your design is transferred onto the fabric. Hang the fabric to dry.

To dye more fabric for an additional pillow, add more paint, swirl with paintbrush and dip the second square of white cotton fabric. Remove and dry.

Sew Together Pillow

With the right sides together, pin a marbled piece of fabric to a backing piece. Sew the two together with a 1/4" hem, leaving a 5" opening for your pillow insert. Stuff your insert into the pillow case. Hand-stitch the opening closed.

Style your new marbled pillows onto a crisp, white duvet cover for a fun pop of color.

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