I love spending time in my craft room creating fun gifts, and my favorite thing to make are DIY throw pillows with my Silhouette Cameo.

They are easy, inexpensive, and the quickest way to spruce up your space for a fresh new look.

I can whip one up in under 30 minutes using my Silhouette Cameo. In fact, it is one of the easiest vinyl projects you can make.

For your convenience, this post contains affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking one of the links below, though your cost does not change, I may receive a small commission. For more information, see our privacy and disclaimer page.

I have spent a lot of time creating gifts using Heat Transfer Vinyl and Heat Transfer Paper, but I had not yet tried Printable Heat Transfer Vinyl, and just couldn’t wait any longer.

Since it’s time to update my office for spring, I found a pretty Watercolor Bunny Design to create some new throw pillow covers to spruce up my office.

So let’s get started, shall we?

Materials needed

Scroll to the bottom of the post for a printable list and tutorial

18″ x 18″ Throw Pillow Covers
17″ x 17″ Pillow Insert (I prefer a slouchy look to my pillows)
Printable Heat Transfer Vinyl
Cutting Mat (I prefer these over the Silhouette brand. They are sturdier and less expensive. However, if you have a new Silhouette Cameo that is still under warranty, please know that using one of these mats could void your warranty.)
Teflon Sheets
Heat Press Tape
Heat Press Pillows
Bunny Watercolor Design from Design Bundles. (The best part about this particular design is that you can use it in many different ways.)
Maillane Font from the Big Bundle Offer Font 2020 at Bifonts (or font of your choice)

Tools Needed

Printer
Silhouette Cameo
Craft Weeding Tools
Heat Press, or Cricut Easy Press,

Silhouette Studio

Before we get started with our DIY Throw Pillows, let’s talk about Silhouette Studio.

One of the things I love most about Silhouette is that it has a very robust software program right out of the box.

However, they also offer several upgrade options that are worth every penny.

They are Designer Edition, Designer Plus, and Business Edition.

You’ll notice in the images below that I have Silhouette Studio Business Edition.

Though you won’t need it for this tutorial, I highly recommend it.

It allows you to do a lot more with your little crafting wonder, including the ability to export as SVG, JPG, PDF, & PNG files.

I also love that I can use embroidery files, cut with multiple machines at once, and automatically add weed lines (Woot! Woot!)

For a one-time, inexpensive upgrade fee, it packs a lot of punch.

If you’re ready to get more options with Silhouette Studio, check out The Silhouette Studio Software Comparison Chart from Swing Design to make sure you get the one that will work best for you.

Preparing your design in silhouette studio

Now let’s get started on those adorable DIY Throw Pillows!

In Silhouette Studio open the Page Setup Window from the Righthand toolbar.
Choose 12″ x 12” Mat.
Change the Width to 8.5″ and the Height to 11″.
I personally like to check Show Print Border and Cut Border. (I apologize, I forgot to check Print Border in the image below, but you will find it right above Show Cut Border.)

Upload the PNG Image of your Bunny Watercolor Design by selecting File, Merge from the top left of your screen.

You can’t see it now, but there is a transparent box around the bunny, so we will remove that next.

Open the Trace Window on the Right Toolbar.
Select Trace Area.
Draw a box around the bunnies, move the Threshold to the right until the bunnies have turned completely yellow, then select Trace and Detach.

Move your bunnies out of the way and draw a box around the area where the bunnies were. You will notice a faint outline of the bunnies as well as little boxes.
Hit delete.

Open the Text Window on the Left Toolbar and type “Happy Spring.” (Or whatever you would like on your throw pillow.)
Open the Text Window on the Right Toolbar and choose your favorite font. For this tutorial, I used Maillane Font from the Big Bundle Offer Font 2020 at Bifonts (and it is only $5 at the time of writing this!).

Important note: For this particular font (and most script fonts) you’ll notice the letters overlap but are not welded together. Some of the letters are overlapped nicely – meaning that when printing, it will be seamless. However with other letters, if we were to weld right now, it will cause what I call a “blip,” making it look a little sloppy (like with the “r” and “i” in the images below).

Let’s correct this now.

Draw a box around your words and then Right-Click your mouse and choose Ungroup. (Or press Shift, Command, “G,” on a Mac.)
Now that all the letters have their own box, hold down your Shift button and unselect the letter, “H.”
Use your arrow buttons to start making adjustments.

For this, I moved everything closer to the letter “H.” I then held down the shift button and clicked on the letter “a” to deselect it and moved everything over to the left just a bit (one or two clicks of the arrow button). Continue this process until you are happy with your text.

Grab all of the text and click Weld from the Top Toolbar.

Now there will be several boxes around your text. Right-Click your mouse again and click Group. (Or Command, “G” on a Mac.)

Open the Line and Fill Panel Window from the Right Toolbar. (Design Tip: I like to have both panels open when I’m designing. To do this, open one panel first and move it down. Then open the other panel and it will automatically open on top of the first panel.)
Click on your Text Box, and choose a color for your Text. Since you are printing the design for your throw pillows, you can choose whatever color you want by clicking on the dropper and then match it to an area on the bunnies.

Personally, I like to see what my design will look like on my throw pillow, so let’s take care of that now.

Click on the Drawing Tools on the Left Toolbar and draw a box.
To make the box the size of your pillow, click on the Lock on the Top Toolbar so that it does not auto-adjust.
Type 17″ in both the Width and Length areas. (Or the size of your pillow.)

Now you can move your design into the box to get an idea of what it will look like on your pillow.

Since I’m using larger pillows, I want to maximize the available space on my Printable Heat Transfer Vinyl, therefore, I am going to separate the text from the Bunny Watercolor Design and put it together when I press my throw pillows.

Print your design

Open the Page Setup Window on the Right Toolbar and click Registration Marks.
Turn the Registration Marks on.
To maximize your space on the page, move the Left, Top, and Right Inset to the left. Do not move the Bottom Inset or your Silhouette Cameo will not read your registration marks correctly!

Important note: You could have set up your registration marks in the beginning. Sometimes my head just can’t process all that when I’m trying to design.

Click the Replicate Window from the Right Toolbar.
Draw a box around your design and text and click Mirror.
Draw a box around your original design and text and hit Delete.

Move your mirrored bunnies back to the mat and make sure they fit within the registration marks.
Click the Printer on the Top Left Toolbar.
Choose your print settings.
Load your Printable Heat Transfer Vinyl into your Printer. (For my printer, I load the paper face down.)
Click Print.
DO NOT MOVE your design from the mat just yet.

Cut Your Design

Hang in there, friend! We’re almost there.

Now that your bunnies have printed, click Send in the upper right of your screen.

Select Heat Transfer Vinyl, Printable for Light Fabrics.
Select Cut (instead of sketch).
Choose Ratchet Blade if it did not automatically switch to it.
If your design is not already outlined in red noting that it is the cut line, click on the image and then select Cut.
My blade is pretty well-loved, so I always select 2 Passes.

Place your Printed Heat Transfer Vinyl on your cutting mat with the Black Box in the upper left-hand corner and load it into your Silhouette Cameo.
Click Send at the bottom of your screen.
Once it is finished cutting, weed your design.
Move your text onto your mat and repeat the steps above.

Press your Throw Pillows

If you don’t have a Heat Press, you can find instructions on applying Heat Transfer Vinyl with the Cricut Easy Press or your Household iron in our post Applying Heat Transfer Vinyl to a Shirt.

Preheat your Heat Press to 375° for 30 seconds.
Insert a Heat Press Pillow inside the Throw Pillow Cover.
Center the Printable Heat Transfer Vinyl facedown on your throw pillow and secure with Heat Transfer Tape. If you can fit both the design and text on the pillow without overlapping the carrier sheet, feel free to do so. If not, just press separately. Important tip: To find center, fold the pillow cover in half both ways.
Place a Teflon sheet on top of the Printable Heat Transfer Vinyl and press for 30 seconds.
Remove the carrier sheet, lay the Teflon Sheet over the design and press again. (If you need more help, check out Applying Heat Transfer Vinyl to a Shirt. It’s the same concept no matter what type of fabric blank you are using.)

Viola!

You now have an adorable Spring DIY Throw Pillow!

Wrapping Up

I know that was a lot of steps, but once you do it a few times, you’ll be creating new designs (and throw pillows) in no time. (Seriously, this took me less than 30 minutes from start to finish.)

Whether you’re making a throw pillow for yourself or as a gift for a friend, you’re going to love this easy DIY!

If you need more help using your Silhouette Cameo, I highly recommend The Ultimate Silhouette Guide by Melissa Viscount.

This book cut my learning curve in half when I was learning how to use my Silhouette Cameo and I refer back to it often for DIY projects that I’m not as familiar with. As a Footprints of Inspiration reader, you get 10% off by using coupon code: FOOTPRINTS at checkout.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

While you’re here, be sure to check out all our fun Silhouette DIY Projects! Oh, and if you love this easy tutorial, I’d be honored to have you share it on Pinterest!

Until next time…

Pin for later

Special Note: This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are my own. By purchasing products through these links, I may receive a small commission, however, your cost for the item does not change. Through this commission, I can continue my blog and purchase items to help in the day to day running of Footprints of Inspiration. For more information, see our privacy and disclaimer page.

Footprints of Inspiration is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.”