Sweater Pillow Tutorial

  Before I get to my tutorial I have for you today, I have a winner to announce for the Quilt Book Giveaway...

Congratulations
to Valerie Earnest!
I will be emailing you soon to send your new book!

So last week I showed you how to bring the coziness of Fall fashion to your home decor with DIY Yarn Balls.

They remind me of the comfy sweaters I love so much this time of year! So I started thinking of other ways I could bring that coziness to my decor... 

How about pillows!

All you need for this Sweater Pillow project is an old sweater and a pillow form. I picked a sweater up from Goodwill for $5.99, but you could easily use sweater out of your closet that has seen better days. I just loved the color of this one, and the buttons and pockets will add great detail to the pillow!

And I already had an old brown pillow that has been hiding in the back of my closet, waiting to be made pretty again. 

First I measured the pillow. You'll want to add 1/2 inch seam allowance on each side to your measurement. 

Then I laid the sweater flat on a table and carefully cut off the sleeves and hood. I also removed  the tags and inner lining of the sweater to remove some of the bulkiness. 

I cut the sweater to my pillow dimensions, turned it inside out, and pinned all along the edges. A word of advice: Make sure the sweater you use is larger than your pillow. If you pick the right size, all you'll have to do is cut the top of the sweater off below the sleeves and trim the bottom or sides as needed. My sweater was on the small side, so I had to do some trimming and adjusting.

Then I sewed all the way around my sweater. The seams by the buttons were too thick for my tiny sewing machine to go through, so I had to hand stitch those areas. 

Then I unbuttoned the sweater, flipped it right side out, and stuffed my pillow inside. 

If your sweater doesn't have buttons, leave the bottom of your sweater open and hand stitch it closed after inserting the pillow. 

I love the pocket and button details!

And the pillow color looks gorgeous on my gray couches!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing how I brought the coziness of Fall into my home!

Don't forget to check out my DIY Yarn Ball Tutorial for more easy home decor!