DIY Project: Keep Calm & Carry On Pillow
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| Keep Calm and Carry On Pillow |
This sentiment resonates with me for some reason. Perhaps it is the imperfect life I lead with a house full of boys, mud encrusted sneakers and a puppy. There are many moments in a day where I need to take that extra deep breath, straighten the cushions off the floor for the umpteenth time and well just keep calm and carry on.
As many of you know, I love all things English (most of all my husband and my kids). We have the Union Flag on John’s bureau, on some pillows on the couch and even in Luke’s office on salvaged wood:
But I didn’t have anything with “Keep Calm and Carry On”. I only realized recently that this saying was never used. It was created during WWII in preparation for the German invasion to help people remember to stay calm in such a scary time. Most of the signs were destroyed but a book shop found some that had been discarded and hence the craze of all things Keep Calm and… I’ve seen some great ones on Pinterest:
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And this one (as this is what I did):
But I really love the original and I found a great crown on The Graphic’s Fairy which I thought would work great. Last month I shared with you – A pillow for Poppy made using the Citra-Solv transfer method.
These are the materials I used to transfer the image:
Reverse Image printed on a printer that uses toner
Citra-Solv all purpose cleaner (available at Whole Foods)
Tape
Paint Brush
Metal Spoon
Fabric of your choice (tight knit works best)
I decided on a tightly woven, cotton natural fabric. I love the flecks of different colors running through it and a beautiful Ikat print for the back with blue and white pattern (love, love, love Ikat):
Here is the crown graphic and the text, in Lucida Grande, printed on a laser printer:
I then turned the image and text over and placed it on the fabric, securing with tape. I brushed a small amount of Citra-Solv on the fabric. Then I rubbed very hard with the metal spoon. I did this for about 5 minutes. Be sure not to peek as it will not transfer properly. Here is how it came out:
Be sure to iron the printed fabric as it sets the image on the fabric and disperses the citra-solv. Then I finished of the pillow on my sewing machine. Here is how the back looks:
I’ve moved the Duck Egg Blue chair into our bedroom and the pillow has found a lovely home on it (my little oasis). I loved it so much that I made smaller version with linen fabric that sits on my sons’ little rocking chair (perhaps a gentle reminder).
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Did you put the citra solv on top of the paper after you taped it to the fabric?
Linda, you put the text facing down on the fabric and tape it to secure. Then you brush the back of the fabric with the citra-solv. Let me know if that helps or if you have any other questions.
Great post! Want to do this at home. I recently used sharpie and stencils on my pillow shams and I’m thrilled with how they turned out.
You can see them here.
Kelly, the look fabulous. Did you do that freehand? Or with a stencil?
Oh I love the one that Says, ‘Keep Calm and Find yourself a Mr. Darcy’. 🙂
I think I need to follow your lead on this one and in moments of craziness..repeat ‘ Keep Calm and Carry On.’
I love the Mr. Darcy reference as well. Your cushion is great, I really want to try that technique myself, but I have yet to look out for citrasolv or an equivalent !
Hmmm, I wonder what they have in the UK that is similar. Perhaps you could try Waitrose or an earth food store.
Very pretty, Danielle! I have this print in several ways but not on a pillow. I’ll have to try it and I’d love to try it on a t-shirt!
Beautiful cushion!
‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ is my mantra 🙂
Greetings from Australia♥
Hello! Visiting from Classy Clutter linky party. I absolutely love this pillow and would love to try do this. I need to muster up the courage to do it : ) Newest follower!
wow i need to try this thanks so much for the great tutorial, i would love it if you could share this at my party at http://twiggstudios.blogspot.com/2012/02/hi-every-one-i-hope-you-have-had-great.html