When In Doubt...Pillows

Hello Readers. Every once in a while I find something so wonderful and unusual at a clothes swap that, I don't even know what to do with it. This fuzzy sweater was just such a find.

 It was such a soft fuzzy chenille I just wanted to hug it. I did actually hold it for quite a while. I brought it home, washed it, and did some thinking. I knew it was too big. The knit was so loose, I was afraid to cut it in any way. If I couldn't cut it, it would be difficult to refashion.

It was so soft, fuzzy, and squishy, my daughter said it looked like a Muppet costume.
(The Muppet Show defined my childhood more than anything else.) 

I decided that it would make a fabulous pillow. I turned it inside-out and stitched a rectangle shape. I left an opening to stuff it and turned it right-side out. I didn't cut the excess fabric or the sleeves off. I left them attached and inside the sweater/pillow. I was afraid of cutting the material. I thought it would really unravel so fast I wouldn't have time to bind it back together. The sleeves and extra sweater material helped fill up the pillow like stuffing, so it was a win-win. This sweater was so stretchy that I could tell it would take a ton off stuffing to fill it. I only had 2 bags of stuffing in my sewing stash, I was going to run out quickly.

I decided to put a button in the middle of each side of the pillow and connect them together by hand. I picked the biggest matching buttons I had. The buttons pulled the pillow in at the center and made it a little thinner. All the stuffing I had filled up the rest of the pillow nicely.

Here is the finished pillow. It is soft and floppy. The chair is at my sewing table so this is where I sit when I am sewing. It makes the chair a little more comfortable.

I also made another pillow to go with it. This shirt came all the way from Italy. My mother-in-law gave it to my daughter but it shrunk a little in the wash and it was too tight. She really loved the design and didn't know what to do with it. It seemed perfect for a sewing room.

I left the shirt right-side-out and stitched a rectangle around the design on the shirt. I left a couple inches of fabric around the edges. And an opening to add stuffing, of course.

I cut the excess fabric around the edges into thin fringe with my sewing scissors.

The fringe was a quick, easy, and cheap way to dress up the little pillow. My chair is a little more fun and a lot more cushy now.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

  *Year end update-The furry pillow turned into a lint making monster and I had to get rid of it. I was covered in white fuzz every time I sewed. The yellow pillow is still perfect for my sewing chair.