IOD Stamps on Fabric: DIY Room Decor Pillow

I’ve done so many stamping on fabric projects using the Iron Orchid Design Decor Stamps and Ink – and I keep thinking of new project ideas. So I’m back, stamping on fabric, and this time my DIY home decor project transforms white linen into a chic and decorative pillow cover.

No time to read now? Pin this project for later!

I’m listing what I used, and the steps I took, to create the sea coral pillow (Anthozoa – the marine classification name) right here. But you can also watch this short video to see how I did it. You’ll learn some cool techniques to spark your creativity when you stamp on fabric.

If you haven’t used IOD Stamps before, read Everything IOD Stamps before starting. It covers the basics, including the proper way to prep your stamps the first time you use them, using different mediums, and how to care for them. 

HERE’S EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO DIY A ROOM DECOR PILLOW COVER:

Seashore Stamp by IOD

Typesetting Stamp by IOD

IOD Ink in China Blue

IOD Ink pad

IOD Thin Mount w/grid lines

21” x 13” piece of White Linen

Wet wipes

Painters tape

Large piece of cardboard (to tape your project surface)

Giant Watercolor paper pad (for laying out your design before you start)

Hint: unleash your creativity and change the stamp and ink color for your own unique DIY home decor project, stamping on fabric!

STAMPING ON FABRIC WITH IOD SEASHORE AND TYPESETTING STAMPS

STEP 1: PREP YOUR PROJECT

Before you touch any ink or stamp, you’ll need to take a few preparatory steps. Wash and dry the fabric you’ll be using for your pillow cover. I washed the white linen twice, then taped it down with painters tape onto a cardboard surface that was bigger than my 21” x 13” piece of linen. (0:15)

Next, I made sure to add a good amount of the IOD China blue ink to the IOD inkpad. When stamping on fabric, because it’s so porous, you want to do a heavy load of ink on the stamp. Then re-ink the stamp pad in between sections of your project.

PRO TIP: Before I start on my project, I layout the design I want to create on a jumbo watercolor paper pad. Then I keep my worksheet near my project so guide me. Try this if you think it will be helpful.

STEP 2: SPELL IT OUT

Before stamping out a word on a project surface, I make small marks on the fabric to help me line up the position. Next, I take the letters from the Typesetting Stamp (pre-cut out) and mount them on the thin mount sheet with the grid lines. (1:01)

The grid lines not only help keep the word in a straight line, but they help me hover and line it up perfectly, before I ever touch ink to fabric. Next, I take the inkpad, loaded with the China Blue ink (1:41), and heavily load the ink onto the word by going over it with the inkpad several times. 

The wet wipes are always right on my work surface so I can grab one and wipe off any ink that gets on the thin mount. Once the ink touches the fabric – it’s going to live there permanently!

Flipping the thin mount over so the inked stamps are above the fabric, I use the grid lines to line up with the edge of the linen as well as the small marks I placed on the fabric. (2:51) Once I’m in the right position, I place the stamps on the fabric.

Use one hand to anchor the thin mount, and the other hand to press each letter into the fabric. I push the stamp into the fabric, being careful not to apply too much pressure or the image will become distorted. (3:21) Then I carefully lift off the thin mount.

The word I’m stamping (Anthozoa) has double O’s but the typesetting stamp has only one O. Here’s how I solve that issue. I have cut up several small pieces of clear thin mount to use as backing for my stamps. I take the O from the word I’ve stamped, move it to a small piece of thin mount, and re-ink it. Then I hover the thin mount over the space I’d left for the second O, position the letter and press down. (4:38)

STEP 3: ADDING IN CORAL PIECES

Now the Seashore stamp comes into play. This beautiful stamp includes several pieces of coral along with sea life and shells. I’ve pre-cut the coral I will use and attach them to the small pieces of clear thin mount.

At this stage of the project, I’m thankful for my worksheet (5:23) and I use it to guide my placement of the individual pieces of coral stamps. Admittedly, this is the “funny middle” phase of creating a project. As each individual stamp is placed on fabric, I find myself doubting how it will turn out. But keep going!

Remember to re-ink your ink pad after every few stamp applications to continue getting the heavy load of ink on the stamp. The China Blue has the appearance of denim on the white linen and the heavy ink helps to lessen that look.

STEP 4: OVERLAPPING THE STAMPS

The look of coral is very detailed with lots of dark and light shadows in the nooks and crannies. Because I want to create a natural, artistic look, I chose not to mask with the stamps, but to overlap each individual piece of coral. (12:18)

As you start building out your design – it’s the creator’s choice where you start. I created my practice worksheet starting from the base and working out. When I began my real project, as you can see in the video, I created a framework of coral stems, and filled out from there. (8:52)

Just don’t try to make it come out “factory perfect” as the imperfections and variations give it the artwork quality. 

That’s all it took to create this beautiful pillow cover! The final step is to heat set the stamped image. You can do that with a dryer or an iron (turn the fabric over and iron on the reverse.) Then sew your pillow – with a little ruffle around the edge like I did!