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DIY AFRICAN MUDCLOTH PILLOW

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What You'll Need

– ruler – fabric – pencil – scissors – fabric marker – Sewing machine – Paper

Step 1

To begin you will need to deconstruct your fabric to get it to look as close to the real mudcloth as possible.  I did this by cutting my fabric into 4 inch strips.

Step 2

Lay your strips out and make sure your fabric is the right size for your pillow.

Step 3

Than to complete your mudcloth sew it together. Slightly lay one strip over the other and give it a straight stitch. Leave your edges raw it’ll help give your mudcloth that rustic feel it needs.

Step 4

Here’s what it should look like (photo below). This process took me about ten minutes to make.

Step 5

Ok so originally my plan was to use tape to keep my pattern neat. I was thinking to mask off areas and trace with the fabric marker. However I realized that would be A LOT of work 🤔so to quicken the process I decided to use a piece of paper. I cut my pattern out of the paper than I lay it on my fabric and lightly traced it with my pencil. If you’re super paranoid you can totally try the tape method.

Step 6

Here’s what my little triangles looked like once lightly traced with my pencil.

Step 7

Okay to start adding your pattern you’ll need to use a ruler and to help guide your fabric marker. You don’t have to use a ruler but, I would highly recommend using it.  It will minimize your chances of screwing up.  I also used a towel to wipe the ruler off on. The marker transfers onto the ruler and could leave unwanted marks on the fabric.

Step 8

OKAY I am officially in love with this marker. It has such a fine tip. Look how sharp it is.

Step 9

For my larger pillow I did simple triangle shapes and for my smaller pillow most of it was free hand. As long as you stick to a pattern you should be fine. I used pinterest for inspiration.

Step 10

Okay so this step could be as easy or hard as you’d like. You can pick to fully sew your pillow together, install a zipper, or making an overlapping back like most shams have.  For my smaller pillow I stuffed it with filler and sewed it up all the way.  If you plan on using a pillow insert you will need to do an overlapping back or install a zipper.

Step 11

For this pillow I cut out another piece of fabric measuring the same size and I sewed both pieces of fabric facing each other. I also left about a 4 inch gap to stuff it.

Step 12

Then I turned the pillow inside out and and stuffed it.

Step 13

Once you’ve stuffed your pillow simply sew that gap up with a needle and thread and you should be done.

I hope this was helpful and inspiring. Thank you so much for tuning in and taking the time out to comment. I’m so happy to have you onboard and your support means the world to me! 

Tilted Brush Stroke

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LILY ARDOR

A DIY BLOG, SHARING STORIES OF DESIGN BY LILY ARDOR