Upcycled Sweater Pillows for Fall
I love to upcycle my old clothes into decor for the home. One of my favourite things is to upcycle old woolen sweaters into pillows. A couple of years ago I made some very popular Mountain pillows (see them here). This time as the sweaters were in autumn/fall colours I decided to make more seasonal shaped pillows. I made acorns and oak leaf shaped ones.
What you need are a selection of old sweaters in a mixture of fall colours. Pure wool sweaters are best as you can felt them in the washing machine (more details in the blog post at the end).
Even if they aren't real wool as long as the sweater doesn't fray or unravel when you cut them they can be used to make pillows. A lot of machine knitted pillows are OK for this project.
For the acorn pillow you will need a pattern for the nut and the acorn cup. You can draw your own or download mine for free from the blog.
I used 2 different coloured sweaters for the acorn. One for the cup and another darker colour for the nut.
Pin the acorn cup to the nut piece. It looks better if you use a bit of the sweater with some texture as this creates a nice effect on the pillow. Then sew these two pieces together, repeat with the other cut out acorn pieces.
You can either hand sew or use a machine for making these pillows.
Next pin the two acorn pieces right sides together and stitch around, make sure to leave a hole for stuffing.
Turn the pillow right side out and then fill with fibre fill before stitching the hole closed.
I often use the fibers from old bed pillows to stuff my pillows and cushions with.
I also made a matching oak leaf pillow with another sweater, full pattern and details on the blog.
The pillows add a bit of seasonal cheer to my sofa. I'm going to make more acorn pillows in different colours.
I've also made a fun decorated Christmas tree pillow from old sweaters (see here) which I will be getting out in a couple of months time.
Frequently asked questions
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