Gamma Phi Beta Pillow

Gamma Phi Beta sorority gifts

are delightful in pinks and embellished with crescent moon designs. I had the pleasure of creating a Gamma Phi Beta hang up pillow design recently for a custom order.

Making a Custom Sorority Pillow

So she wants a Gamma Phi Beta pillow with carnation and moon in pink, gold,white. Here I go to my sewing closet, rummaging through my fabrics that are divided by color. The pink and white stripe is one of my favorites for the back of the sorority pillows that have PINK as their sorority color. I must choose between the stripe and a pink and white curly design.  This time, the curly design wins

Drawing My Design for a Gamma Phi Beta Pillow Front

I started with my pencil and paper to draw a design that included the crescent moon and a pink carnation.

When I was happy with my rough drawing, I outlined it with a marker. This is an important step for fabric painting designs, because the design in black lines is very easy to see through the white fabric that I use for the pillow front. Lightly, with a pencil, I sketch the basic lines of the design. Now I am ready to paint. I fill up a tin can with water, grab my mug filled with paint brushes, and set my tray of acrylic paints down on my work table. I place the pillow rectangle on top of a piece of cardboard so that any paint that seeps through will be absorbed into the cardboard rather than ruining my table. I must be careful to have my paint at just the right thickness so it will spread on the fabric, but not run watery outside of the lines. After, all is painted, I wait.  Acrylic paint dries quickly so waiting is short. I plug in my iron and after it is preheated, I place a clean sheet of white paper over the painted design and iron on top of the paper for about 15 seconds. The heat from the iron 'sets' the paint so that it will not wash out. Most people will probably never wash these pillows since there is not likely a need for cleaning them, but the ironing is part of the fabric painting process and I always do it anyway.

There, the painting set is complete, but not the sewing. That is for another post...

Sorority pillows are probably one of the most popular sorority gifts that can be made by hand. We all would love to hear some of your great sorority pillow ideas. Please add comments about how you have made a sorority pillow OR about how you would like to make one.   Also, you can email me with your pictures of you handmade sorority pillows at sororitygiftideas  AT  gmail.com. THANKS

For more ideas for Greek  sorority pillows, click over to our Sorority Pillows page.