31 Days: The Thrift Project – Day 14: Waste Not, Want Not Sweater

It’s a 2-for-1 day!

I had a white cable knit sweater on my wish list for a while. It was one of those instances where I didn’t include details, so I couldn’t remember why I wanted it. One day thrifting, I FINALLY remembered that I wanted it to make a cute sweater pillow (similar to this one from Pottery Barn) for the living room. I had just switched out our curtains from red to white, and I wanted to add a little more white to the room. Pillows would do the trick.

I turned the sweater inside out and removed the top of the sweater, cutting a straight line from armpit to armpit, leaving a square of sweater at the bottom (see sketch above). I sewed the top closed using a straight stitch first, then I went over the seam edges with a zigzag stitch to prevent fraying. I put a pillow form inside. I could have sewn the pillow closed at the waistband, but since it’s white, I’d like to be able to wash it. (Have I mentioned I have kids?)

I love the contrast of the white pillow with the dark brown leather of the chair. I need to find more sweaters to make a few more pillows.

“But wait, there’s more!”

I looked at the leftover sleeves and thought, “I can do something with these – legwarmers!” I left the sleeve cuffs alone and cut the other ends in a straight line. I then ran a bead of Liquid Stitch along the loose edges to keep them from fraying. I let them dry overnight. In the morning, the Liquid Stitch felt a little scratchy, but when I stretched it out a bit, it felt fine.