Patriotic Sweater Pillows

by ConcordCottage.com with Lisa Walsh Huff Kroll

Today I’m sharing how to make a sweater pillow out of one of your sweaters. You see them all the time in catalogs and many times upwards of $50 each and maybe you’ve always wanted to make one. Maybe today is the day to go raid your Mom’s or Grandmothers closet and repurpose some of those Ugly Sweaters into decorative beauties.

patriotic sweater pillows, crafts, patriotic decor ideas, repurposing upcycling, seasonal holiday decor

If you don’t have a closet to raid then you can do what I did and head to your local Thrift Store to find one/some. I found this one for $4.95 and they have racks of sweaters all the time.

I Love them on our blue grey wing back chairs.

When I saw this one I loved the bling on the beads around the stars and thought it could be perfect cut into two small pillows for our grey/blue wing chairs.

Here’s how to make them. 1. Cut out your pillow size. I cut mine about 16″ x 9″ and keep in mind sweater fabric moves and stretches too. If you want a more perfected look you can even cut a piece of cotton which will stabilize your fabric too. I’m not a perfectionist and these are holiday decorative pillows so they are just fine this way.

This is my helper Chloe who likes to get in on the action especially when she sees things moving. Maybe she was checking if I was sewing straight too….lol. 2. Pin your pillow around edges to keep in place. 3. Sew around edges with a 1/2″ seam and leave an opening at the bottom.

4. Cut or miter your corners. This is a huge tip because when you turn them inside out they will lay much better and flatter.

5. Lightly press your seams and don’t press down on any beads or you will burn them. I flipped it over when I got to that part. I like to have my iron set on steam for better pressing too.

You can find bags of Polyfil at all your fabric stores and also stores like Walmart and I also find it a lot at Thrift Stores too.

6. Stuff your pillow. Take your time to get it into all the corners and as even a look that you can. This bag of stuffing even came with a little stick (looks like a chopstick) for making it easier to stuff.

7. Pin your opening closed. 8. Hand sew the opening closed or you can machine stitch it too. This sweater is bulky so I felt it would look better hand sewn.

Voila!! You’re done. I love the Stars and Stripes Sweater Pillows I now have!!

I can even put them out on our porch if I want or in the back yard on our new red and blue plastic chairs I just painted.

Right now I think they are just darling right here. What do you think?

Be on the lookout for great sweaters. People donate different holiday sweaters all the time and also keep in the back of your mind sweaters for Sweater Pumpkins and you can see how I made those here.

Need a little more Patriotic inspiration?? Check out the Anthro Inspired Union Jack Flag Frame, or the Pottery Barn Inspired Americana Pillow, or the $2 Ottoman Makeover posts here too.

Have a great day and thank you for stopping by, Lisa