Doodle Pillow Tutorial
Alisa Burke is a mixed-media artist, painter, designer and creative spirit. Alisa often works with canvas and has a popular book, Canvas Remix: Techniques For Creating Mixed-Media Accessories. She shares lots of wonderful tutorials, and glimpses into her creative process and her art at Alisa Burke. Today we’re so lucky to have Alisa here, showing us how to create one of a kind fabric doodle pillows. We hope Alisa’s tutorial will inspire you to create a doodle pillow of your own!
I love making my own of a kind fabric and one of the easiest ways to create a colorful surface is to use simple doodles and drawings to fill a surface. I used some of my fabric to create a simple doodle pillow.
Materials
- 1 yard of white cotton broadcloth or muslin
- Fabric markers
- One step dye or fabric paint
- Paint brushes
- Colorful thread
- Quilt batting- cut to size of pillow for front and back
- Stuffing or pillow form
I started by drawing and doodling all over the surface with fabric markers.
I added simple shapes, scribbles and marks. I used different colors and challenged myself not to worry about perfection.
Next I used a one step dye to add more color in between the doodles and designs. Fabric paint would also work.
I filled the entire surface doodles and color and let dry.
I heat set the fabric and washed it. (Depending on brand and manufacturer, the heat setting process and washing guidelines could vary.)
I cut my fabric into two pieces measuring 10″ x 12″. I also cut out two pieces of quilt batting to to back each piece. Size and shape can be adjusted.
Using colorful thread I used free motion stitching to doodle and draw right over the top of my fabric. You could use a free motion sewing foot or even a darning foot for this process.
I traced over my doodles and even added expressive and wild stitching with my machine.
Last, I sewed the front and back together with right sides facing each other. I left an opening, stuffed and then sewed the opening closed.
The result is a really fun, whimsical pillow full of color, texture and layers!
Enter our Pillow Contest! Create a pillow this month and enter to win some fabulous prizes.
You can also comment on any post this week for your chance to win one of these great prizes below, courtesy of Robert Kaufman Fabrics:
1 fat quarter pack of Betty Dear, 5 Kona Cotton color cards, 1 fat quarter pack of Night & Day in the Summer Colorstory, 10 sets of 5 Kona charm packs
142 Responses to “Doodle Pillow Tutorial”
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*So* unique — thanks for posting this, SMS!
that is amazing!
Wow…this pillow rocks! Now I know what my next pillow is going to be. This will be fun to do with littles as well.
Very very original!! So cute and full of inspiration!
Love this! I wish I had a darning foot though – my kids would go crazy making super cute pillows for me to quilt!
Love it! That seems like a fun project to do with kids. The painting part anyway. Hm…. thinking of mother’s day gifts…
That’s gorgeous!!! What a creative and beautiful piece of art!
Fantastic pillow! A piece of art!
Thanks for the tutorial!
that’s really cool! i love the look of the bright red stitching!
i love doodling!
Love this!
Great idea for making your own fabric. I will have to try this for some of my small stuffies I make.
Such a cool idea! I love Alisa Burke’s designs!
I love this! I want to make one right now!!
wow – how fun would this be for the kids!
What a great idea! Love it!
Very inspiring. I love this tutorial, colorful and easy to do. I have been wanting to paint on fabric to mix in with my quilting. Can’t wait to try this out. Thank you for sharing!
that is fantastic
Darling!
That looks like a lot of fun! I will definitely have to try this one.
So fun!!!
wow, this is so great! I wish I could do something like this and make it look so good!
Love this idea! My 6 year old son and I will have some fun making these pillows!!
I absolutely LOVE this idea! I’ve been coloring on my sons t-shirts lately, and this will give me even more practice with those fabric markers!
Ok, that’s not really my style, but it’s so cute! I could totally see doing parts of this with my kids. Wish I had a free motion foot for my sewing machine…is there another way to do this? I’ll have to go google. =) Thanks for the morning cheer!
Heather
that’s quite an interesting pillow, would be a great project for little ones!
love it! totally inspiring ~ thanks so much for sharing it!
This would be a great project for the kids to help with.
Love this tutorial! So inspiring! I’ll absoöutely give it a try.
Lotta in Sweden
amazing idea! Beautiful.
This is fabulous. I’m afraid if I tried it, it would look like a pre-schooler did it.
I don’t know that I have it in me to paint my own fabric, but that is awesome.
Love the look of this pillow – so bright and cheerful!
How fun!! I must try this.
A great unique pillow! Thank you for the great tutorial!
I love it! I need to find some of that fabric dye so I can do this.
Wow! So, much fun. I agree with the poster who said it would be a great project to do with kids. I may have to make one with my son.
i could already see my kids letting their imagination go wild when we do this project! Thanks.
This is adorable! I looooove it! Thanks for sharing!
This is such a great idea !! thanks
My daughter is so into art – she would make a beautiful pillow design!
I would love to win a charm pack or a set of fat quarters!
A real masterpiece! Great Work.
My artsy daughter would make a great pillow design like this!
And I’d love to win a charm pack or set of fat quarters!
That is such a cool technique! Great, fun pillow.
Wow!!!!! I absolutely love this!!!!!!!
What an interesting concept, I have an artist daughter who would love this!
This would be sooo great for a teenager! Thanks!!!
I love this!
Thanks for a great tutorial
I’ve never thought of making my own fabric! Very interesting and very colorful!
I love the effect of the various techniques. You make it look so easy!
So fun! My girls would love this!
Love it! I think I’m going to make a piece of fabric into a matching pillow and lap quilt.
Thank you for this tutorial! This is such an inspiring project!
this is very cool. Unfortunately, my doodle doesn’t come out as pretty as yours.
Wow – that’s one crazy pillow! Such a fun project for older kids.
This is so incredibly amazing and inspiring…. but if I did this all I would see is ucky mistakes. I so want to give this a try… it would be so freeing for me!
Totally rocks.
Wow, that’s the coolest doodle I’ve ever seen. Wish I was that good of a draughtswoman!
wow!great job!
WOW! Thanks for the tutorial. That is such a cool pillow and I love how it all came together.
Can’t wait to try this out!
Wow! So cool! It’s like a little piece of artwork!
How beautiful and unique!
I think it would be fun to have the grand children each doodle a pillow top and I could add the color I would like.
This is a really fun idea! Like you said, I would have to challenge myself not to be perfect on the design too. I think this pillow will look great on my 3 yr old’s new bed. Thanks.
I would love to have my granddaughter help with making this pillow!
I love this!
It even fits the theme of my blog
Wow! That is really neat!
perfect project for my little grand daughter on the next sleepover. I will have her do the drawing and “color” ths fabric and then will finish it fir her. Great idea!
Wow. That is so cool, and a great way to personalize!
I had a doodle bear when I was little that I loved. I so want a pillow like this.
What a fun idea! Thanks for the creative tutorial!
Oh WOW! This is such a fabulous idea!
I have used fabric markers and paint and even one step dye on tshirts with my art students. This is a whole new level and I’m dying *HA!* to try this with them.
Yay! This is fabulous and fun.
Fascinating technique — thanks for sharing the process with us.
Wow how wonderful. Thank you for sharing
Alisa Burke has great ideas. So inspiring!!! Love her blog. I might try this Pillow.
completley love this pillow its so expressive
This is beautiful! I love Alisa’s work.
Love this idea and what a fun pillow!
So fun and inspiring. Beautiful work!
That is one fantastic pillow – so artistic!
I am so in love with this pillow. I’m going to be purchasing a sewing machine, and this has inspired me. I took a nap this morning envisioning all the different things I could do with fabric and paint.
I have recently gotten very into painting on fabric…now I just need to add in the doodling. I love how funky this pillow is – - perfectly unique!
That is amazing–so beautiful and unique. Thanks for sharing!
This is definitely unique — It reminds me of graffiti –But in a good way!
I would have so much fun making a pillow like this. So cool
This is one of the coolest pillows I’ve ever seen and what a great idea! Thanks for the great tutorial!
So fun
Really fun! I love all the detail in it and each pillow is unique!
Wonderful!
Love this pillow!! I think this would be a fun project to do as a party project with my kids!! Everyone could design their own.
Thanks for the great inspiration.
LOVE this idea – I am going to try it with my Yeat 9 Textiles class as one of their projects – cant’ wait to see what they come up with!!!
I love this pillow! Is it a giveaway?!
I think that would be so cute in a teenagers room.
Wow, this one is different – love it!
This is too cool and truly a piece of art.
Wow! That is a rockin’ pillow! Looks like a lot of fun to make.
That’s really cool, but my doodles do not look anythin like that. I though it was black and white printed fabric at first! It would be super fun for a kid to do.
Love the paisley. When my sister & I were in elementary/middle school in the early ’90s, paisley was everywhere in the mall department stores. We loved it so much that we made up a song… “there’s pais-i-ley eve-er-ly where!” I never said we were cool.
this is an awesome pillow. quite a work of art. thanks
LOVE, love, love this pillow! The creative energy and the colorful design done so freely – it’s great! I’m going to give this technique a try.
I love this idea!! It’s an easy way to make a design that is totally unique!! Love it!!!
i love this!! so creative! could be really great with kids!
OH MY I love this pillow. I love it I love it I love it.
Interesting. This gives me lots of ideas of ways to use this process.
This looks like a fun project that my girls and I will enjoy trying. Thank you for posting this tutorial!
super inspiring, thanks for this post! Now on my to-make list
Next time our niece and nephew are here overnight, I think we’ll be sending them home with original works of art. Thanks!
book marked & I am SOO doing it!
very creative indeed!
This is a very cute pillow. However, I’m a bit sad that every single pillow for inspiration this month has been a square pillow. I was hoping for unique ideas and shapes such as what A.M. Horner is doing with giant flower looking pillows, floor pillows, etc.
I love your site though! Just searching for more than designs for the tops of couch pillows.
What a great idea! I have some fabric paint and markers, and this would definetely be a great way to use them!
I am so inspired. That is such a fantastic idea! Wow!
Wow, what a creation!
This is my fave so far, it is so unique and I absolutely love it! How inspiring!
I love this idea!
wow! what an amazing process! thanks for sharing.
wow. Mine would not look that good.
WOW…this is the coolest pillow ever…all my practicing doodles while on the phone has led up to this! Will have to look for some fabric markers to make one….and will pass this idea on to my artsy daughter as well. Thanks for a great project idea!
This is a great pillow-thanks for showing us!
Love the doodle pillow!
Oh so lovely and light and full of fun!!! Great idea!!!
This a beautiful piece of Art!
This soooooooooooooo my type of pillow – I a ma doodler from way back but never thought of making my own fabric with my doodloing. Will definately be giving this pillow a go.
Blessings
Gail
I was so inspired I made one of my own!! What I fab idea. Thanks =)
Oh how lovely! I am going to have to do this with my girls!
This is awesome! Thanks so much for the tutorial… I think this is something I can try out with my daughter. She would have a blast!! Not to mention what an awesome keepsake it would be
Thanks again!
That pillow is absolutely gorgeous. Definitely going on my list of things to make.
great tutorial.
quite unique
This looks like a fun project for tweens.
Now, that is some free motion quilting I might be able to do! Love that idea.
Love it…thanks for the tutorial!
Amazing talent!
I love it! Just brilliant!
What fun! Very inspiring, thanks
This is something that would be great fun with the kids!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this project. My daughter and I will making these this summer.
Wow! It looks like the coolest designer fabric ever! I might just add that to my “try out”-list!
Kirsten in Oslo
I’m going to have my 12 year old doodle and I’ll selfishly paint it
.
I really like this project!
Once again Alisa…amazing! Love this project, thanks for the inspiration