Happy October, everyone! Part of me can’t believe it’s fall already (I think I’m mentally still stuck in March), but I’m not complaining – autumn is my favourite time of the year. One of my favourite things about the season is all of the decorations. Every year I spend way too much money on pumpkins to decorate both outside and indoors. I’ve always said that one day I’ll have plates for every seasonal occasion.
One thing my bedroom was missing was a fall themed pillow. Since Cricut recently came out with pillows as another option for Infusible Ink Cricut Blanks, I decided to pick up a bunch and make a variety of holiday themed pillows.
I had a lot of ideas for my fall themed pillow, but when I saw the black and white gingham Infusible Ink sheets it sealed the deal. I thought a pumpkin would look super cute in this pattern, and it does! I know gingham is typically a pattern that is associated with the summer, but for some reason I’ve always associated it with the fall.
Anyways, let’s get to the DIY! This method will work with any design, but if you want to make the exact same pillow as I did, I uploaded my project directly to Cricut’s Design Space – you can access it here.
DIY PUMPKIN PILLOW
Here’s what you need:
- Cricut Maker (Cricut.com / Amazon.ca)
- EasyPress 2 (Cricut.com / Amazon.ca)
- Infusible Ink™
- Butchers paper (included with your Infusible Ink™)
- 1 sheet of card stock
- Cricut essential tools
- Standard-grip cutting mat
- Cricut Blanks – pillow
- My Cricut pumpkin pillow project in Design Space
Step 1 – Creating your designs:
For the most part, this step is similar to when making projects with other Cricut machines. The main difference is to ensure you have the right machine selected from the drop down menu once you open Design Space.
Create your design using Cricut Design Space. Cricut has loads of fonts, images and read-made projects available for free. There’s also tons more available through Cricut Access. If you’re graphic design savvy you can also upload your own designs in any of the following formats: .jpg, .gif, .png, and .bmp.
If you want to make the exact same pillow as I did, I uploaded my project directly to Cricut’s Design Space – you can access it here.
Step 2: Cutting your design
Once your design is created, measure the area of your pillow that you’d like your design to fill. Resize your design and then click “Make It!”
Next, connect your Cricut machine and select “Infusible Ink” from the materials. Important: make sure that you select mirror on! Place the material onto the standard-grip cutting mat and load your machine.
Click on the Cricut button once it begins to flash to start your cut and sit back and wait!
Step 3: Weeding your design
Once it’s done, weed your design – this is the process of removing the negative space from your cut. The weeding process for Infusible Ink™ designs is a little bit different than other materials. Instead of pulling out the negative space with the weeding tool, remove your sheet from the grip mat and gently roll the material. You’ll start to see the edges of the negative space pop up, you can then pull it off. I found this video to be really helpful when I was figuring out the weeding process.
Step 3: The heat transfer process
First things first, make sure your base material is wrinkle and dust free. I ironed my pillow before I started my project so that way it had time to cool down. When you’re ready to start the heat transfer process, use a lint roller to make sure there is no dust or lint on your fabric.
Next, place a sheet of card stock inside the pillow sham so that the transfer doesn’t soak through. Place your design face-down on the fabric then cover it with a sheet of butcher paper. Make sure you use Cricut’s Heat Guide to determine the time and temperature for the transfer. I used the EasyPress 2, so my heat time was 60 seconds at 385°F, with light pressure and a warm peel.
Download this project in Cricut Design Space
I tried to take a close-up shot of the material after to show you how the Infusible Ink™ dyed the fabric, but it’s a little hard to tell. I really love how this little guy turned out. I can’t wait to make more festive DIYs and share them with you. I already have some ideas for pillows for other holidays, too!
