Drop Cloth Grain Sack Pillows

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I’ve loved grain sack pillows ever since I saw them all over Miss Mustard Seed’s House. She’s got them in her bedroom, family room, living room, and guest room.

Aren’t they beautiful?

I did a Google search to see where I could purchase some. Euro-Linens offered this beauty for $220.00. Are you kidding me?! Does anyone really pay that for a pillow? Must be a typo…

I found several on Etsy as well, but decided to make my own in the end with the help of my incredibly talented mother-in-law. If I can envision something, she can sew it, including my wedding dress and dresses for our little girls!

I bought 12 feet of painter’s drop-cloth for $10 which gave me enough to cover eight pillows and a little left over for a coffee table runner that has yet to be made. Drop cloth is extremely inexpensive and has that grain sack look I love. The more you wash it, the softer it gets. It’s also great for stenciling because the material is designed to keep paint from leaking through.

My mother-in-law sewed all the covers for me in a pocket style so I can easily remove them for washing. Here’s an easy tutorial if you’d like to make your own.

Then came the fun part – painting! Brad cut out the letter ‘V’ for me out of stencil material at work so I could monogram one of the pillows with the first letter of our last name. I asked him to make the ‘V’ 8″ tall and it turned out to be just the right size for the pillow. I simply peeled off the backing, stuck the stencil to the center of the pillow cover and traced around the edges of the letter with a pencil.

I probably could have painted right over the stencil, but I didn’t want to risk ruining the cover, so I decided to outline first and then fill it in with a grey paint I mixed together with some leftover white and charcoal tinted interior latex. Acrylic craft paint is what professional crafters use, but I’m not a professional and this is what I had in the house. Plus, it saved me a couple bucks. 🙂

For the “grain sack” pillows, I just stuck on strips of painters tape, leaving the openings at various widths. I didn’t measure, just eyeballed it and stuck ’em on where I thought they looked good.

After the paint was applied (thicker paint is better for stenciling because it’s less likely to leak through), I peeled off the tape and was left with nice crisp, “grain sack” lines. I’ve heard Frog Tape works the best, but I had no seeping issues with the cheaper stuff.

I love how they turned out! They took just a couple dollars and a couple minutes to make, but the character they bring the our living room is priceless!

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