DIY Monogram Pillow Tutorial {no sewing required!}

Last Updated on March 3, 2022

I have been wanting to share this monogram pillow/personalized sham tutorial with you for a while, because it's SO cute and SO easy. I have always had a weakness for monogram pillows and personalized shams. But, they usually cost a small fortune and the custom options are somewhat limited. You know what that meant for me? A challenge.  CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

DIY Personalized Pillow Tutorial by Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body {designertrapped.com}

I was determined to make personalized pillow shams for my twin girls myself. If you have seen my twin girls' “big girl” room reveal already, you may have noticed the sweet pillow shams that I made for my girls, featuring their first names. Read on to learn how to make one for yourself or your kiddos!

Materials Needed:

  • A pre-made pillow or sham- I purchased mine at Bed Bath and Beyond because I had a gift card, but they are MUCH cheaper on Amazon: Fresh Ideas Ruffled Poplin Sham 2 Pack King, White {affiliate link*}
  • A color ink-jet printer {or a friend who will let you use theirs for 5 minutes}
  • Iron on transfer paper, like Avery T-shirt Transfers {affiliate link*}
  • Ric rac trim {if desired}
  • Liquid Stitch {if using trim}

Steps:

1) Use your computer's word processing program to type out your name or monogram {I used my girls' full first names, instead of their monograms, but monograms are probably a more popular choice, hence the name of my post} and select whatever color you want to use. This requires a bit of guesswork. I picked the pink color that I thought would work and printed it on plain white paper BEFORE printing it on the far more expensive iron on transfer paper. I got lucky and the color was just right on my first try. You may also have to play around with your font size. Again, just tweak it until you get it just right.

2) Follow the directions for your iron on transfer paper to learn how to feed it through your printer. DON'T FORGET TO FLIP THE IMAGE/USE THE REVERSE IMAGE PRINT SETTINGS! This will make it look wonky and backwards when you print it off, but when you iron it on, it will be correct, I promise!

DIY Monogram Pillow Tutorial by Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body {designertrapped.com}3) Iron your pillowcase or sham.

4) Decide on the placement of your name or monogram. I opted to place their names in the top third portion of the shams BECAUSE I knew I wanted to place a smaller pillow in front of them and I did not want their names to be covered. But, of course, you may prefer to center your name or monogram. Once you decide on your placement, get ready to iron it on. Bear in mind, once you iron it on, there's no going back, so be confident about your placement first!

DIY Monogram Pillow Tutorial by Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body {designertrapped.com} 4) Again, follow the specific instructions for your iron on transfer paper with regard to the heat of the iron and directions on how long to iron, when to peel the paper off, etc.

DIY Personalized Pillow Tutorial by Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body {www.designetrapped.com} 5) Once your name or monogram is ironed on, if you want to add a bit more embellishment, you can place ric rac trim {or ribbon, etc.} around the edges of your sham or pillowcase like I did. This is my favorite touch! Now, if you have read my blog before, you have learned that I REALLY DISLIKE sewing. I'm not proud of that, but it's true. So, I avoided sewing the ric rac trim on by using this most genius thing ever…LIQUID STICH! How had I never heard of this before?!?!?!? You use it just like glue {even I can do that, I mean I DID complete Kindergarten}. Apply the glue to the ric rac trim and press it on to the fabric. Yep, it's that easy.

DIY Monogram Pillow Tutorial by Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body {designertrapped.com} 5) Allow the liquid stitch to dry and your customized sham or monogram pillow is ready to admire and use. You have a totally personalized pillow in very little time and for a small fraction of the cost of a comparable one from Pottery Barn Kids or a similar store, like this one, which retails for $33.50 {not including shipping!}. My sham cost $15.00 and the other materials cost around $4.00 per pillow, so I saved a good bit of money making them myself. Plus, I think mine are way cuter!

PBK Monogram Sham SOURCE: Pottery Barn Kids

DIY Monogram Pillow Tutorial by Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body {designertrapped.com} You may also enjoy my tutorial on how to make the bold striped pillow out of Ikea dish towels {sorry, that one does require some sewing}.

 

MUST PIN! This no sew, DIY personalized pillow tutorial is so easy! Full tutorial by Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body!

 

Will you give this project a try? Do you prefer using a monogram or a full name?

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out some of my other sewing and no-sewing projects!
[go_portfolio id=”diy_sewing”]

This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a (very) small commission if you click a link and purchase something. It does NOT result in additional charges to you or cost you anything extra. The small amount of affiliate money I earn per month is how I pay the fees to keep this site up and running. Thanks so much for your support!

 

[mv_create 1 11 200 2016 key=”1″ type=”list” title=”Most Popular Projects” thumbnail=”<a href=” https designertrapped com wp content uploads diy home decor projects blog jpg a]Related-posts

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

41 Comments

  1. I want to use an initial on a t-shirt. But I don’t want the t-shirt to have a stiff front…do you think this would work? I also thought that if I got the initial thick enough, I may paint small dots on it.

    1. Yes, this should work well on a t-shirt LeAnna. In fact, that’s what the transfers I used were intended for. I hope that helps! Thanks so much for reading my blog!

  2. I must get some of that Liquid Stitch! I know all about the fusion web to avoid sewing, but hadn’t seen the Liquid Stitch before. And I totally agree that your pillows are cuter than PB’s. Thanks for linking up at Thursday S.T.Y.L.E.!

    1. My pleasure, Angela! I love your party. Thanks for stopping by and for your sweet comment! We did have a nice Valentine’s Day. Glad you were able to spend some quality time with your Valentine during the ice storm!

  3. This little pillow is so sweet Tasha! What a fun idea and great tutorial.
    Thank you so much for sharing at Brag About It Link Party on VMG206.
    ~ Megin of VMG206
    VMG206

  4. How beautiful! The pillow looks so pretty, and I love that it’s no sew! Now if only I had one of those printers (or a friend that has one!!!! lol) Beautiful!!

    1. Thanks so much, Maria! Our printer was only $60 on Amazon, so trust me, it’s nothing fancy! Just a regular old ink jet printer! You could probably also print it at a Kinkos or print shop.

  5. These are awesome. I had no idea you could transfer onto fabric strait from the printer. I’ve always gone the old freezer paper route. This is way better…..and I seriously love your girls’ names. Cute cute cute!

    1. Hi Tammy! Thanks so much. I am glad you like the tutorial. These pillows are one of my favorite parts of my girls’ room and they were so easy!