How To Stencil On Burlap

I thought I’d share this ‘How To Stencil On Burlap’ tutorial with you just to show how easy it is!

Burlap is a really popular choice these days for a whole host of projects and stenciling is a really easy and effective way to add a little design touch to all your fab craft ideas.

Last year I had a go at stenciling on burlap (jute) and all in all I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. It really complimented the rest of my Christmas Decor.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links that I think you may find useful – any purchases made via these links provide a small commission to me at no extra cost to you. This helps me keep the blog up and running.

Materials Needed To Stencil On Burlap

• Red Burlap material (jute)
• Acrylic paint (I just used normal paint but you can also get Acrylic Fabric Paint which is machine washable)
• Piece of card or plastic (to protect the surface underneath the burlap material)
• Paintbrush or sponge
• Stencil (if you do not want to make a stencil like I did then this one is very similar: Deer Head Stencil)
• Sharp craft knife
• Cutting mat
• Plate or container for paint
• Repositionable adhesive spray or double-sided sticky tape

Notes

I used plain acrylic as this was a decorative seasonal pillow but if you are planning to wash the item you will need to mix it with fabric paint

I stenciled on my completed Burlap Pom Pom Pillow <- click to see the tutorial on how to make this. paint)

You can either use a bought stencil or do the same as I did and make your own DIY stencil.

How To Make Your Own DIY Stencil

Find A Suitable Printable Stencil

Find a suitable image online and print it out onto a piece of A4 card or photo paper. I found a really great high-resolution image for a faux deer head over at Lolly Jane.

*Tip* Chunkier stencils work better on burlap because of the coarse weave of the materials

How To Cut Out The Stencil

Using a cutting mat (or another hard protective surface) and a craft cutting knife (or Stanley knife) carefully cut the image out making sure you use a smooth and clean cutting motion to avoid any jagged edges.

This step can be quite time-consuming and needs quite a bit of patience. If you would rather not do this step then just go ahead and use a store-bought stencil.

How To Stencil On Burlap

1. Protect surface and material
   • Insert a piece of cardboard inside the pillow or directly under the project that you are planning to stencil.
2. Secure stencil
   • Using either the repositionable adhesive spray or double-sided sticky tape securely fix the stencil onto the material
3. Paint
   • Squeeze some of the acrylic paint onto your plate and using a paintbrush or sponge evenly dab or stipple the paint onto the stencil. Make sure you do not overload your brush or sponge and build up in layers. This is important – Be careful not to push the brush under the stencil, it helps if you hold your paintbrush in a more vertical position rather than horizontally.
4. Remove stencil
   • Carefully remove the stencil ‘Et Voila!’ there you have it, your own work of art!

*Tip* -Use a spare piece of burlap material to have a test run.

Need to make the cushion first?  Then you can follow my easy DIY flap-over Pom Pom Pillow Tutorial

As you can see this is so easy to do and it can be applied to a whole manner of different DIY craft projects.  

Another stenciling project that I made was my DIY Stencilled Clock where I took an old plastic thrift store clock and transformed it into a really beautiful decor piece. I was particularly proud of this piece and got a lot of compliments.

I have a ton of other ideas and am looking forward to using this technique again. The next project I have in mind to use this stenciling method is for a coastal decor idea. If you don’t want to miss this project and would like to see more of my other DIY & Craft Tutorials then be sure to sign up for the Happy Home In Holland Newsletter