Mr. and Mrs. Pillow Tutorial

I had so many problems with these pillows, if I wasn't foolhardy tenacious enough, the pieces would be in the wastebasket!  I tried several times to press linen onto freezer paper and run it through my printer.  It got hung up every time, even though I tried various "fixes" to get it to run smoothly.  I finally decided to get transfer fabric from JoAnns.  When I got there that, in cream, was sold out, so I purchased iron-on transfer paper.  After I got all of that squared away I got started with this:

1. I found what I'll call his & her crowns at The Graphics Fairy and saved them as .jpg files.
2. Next, I made each individual image into a "collage" (in Picasa) so I could manipulate the spacing of the image and text on the screen using 8 1/2x11 crop size.  
3. Under the crowns, typed Mr. and Mrs. in "masculine/feminine" fonts and enlarged to approximate size of crown. 
4. Reversed image for printer.  On the Picasa Help Forum, I found this info:  For a vertical flip, press Ctrl-Shift-V.  For horizontal flip, press Ctrl-Shift-H.  You must do this from the Library screen, NOT the edit screen.
5. Feed paper per instructions.  Done.

Notes about transfer paper:  You don't have to do any centering if you iron on the image, as you will cut out separate images and iron on the exact place you want it.  THERE ARE NO DO-OVERS!  When you use these and something goes awry, IF you try to fix it, it will make matters worse.  Trust me on this.  Stick with 100% cotton.  The instructions read that I could also use a blend, but when I tried that, the poly started melting.

 

My goal was to make two 12- x 16-inch (approx.) lumbar pillows.  I used the graphics paper-sized in the vertical position and added two end pieces to equal 17 inches.  (I realized at this point that I could have cut out the entire size since I was ironing on anyway.  It really didn't make any difference in the long run, as I was going to embellish them with trim.) 

Make sure seams are pressed open (carefully, if you've transferred the images).  I ended up using drop cloth fabric because I didn't want to take any more chances with the linen I had left.

From here on out it was smooth sailing.  I added approx. 1-inch trim to the "Mr." over the seams.

Over the top of the Mrs. seams, I used a ruffle.  I have done detailed instructions on the ruffles in a prior post.  From there, I just sewed the back on, stuffed, and hand-stitched the bottom closed.

I hope you'll agree, they're as cute as can be!  If/when I do these again, I'd space the crown and text closer so it's all more centered on the front of the pillow.  I may use the flat trim on both, too, as I like the clean lines.  I'm also going to try the printer technique again sometime using muslin.

I hope I've inspired, and not discouraged, you!