Sweater and Leather Pillow

 

Finished pillow

     My daughter-in-law gave me a sweater that had shrunk in the wash.  It sort of fit me but was way too scratchy.  I decided to make it onto a pillow.

Shrunken sweater

Hooped for embroidery

     I cut apart the sweater and hooped it with sticky stabilizer to stitch the design that I had chosen.  After stitching the design I cut the center piece.  I framed it with some faux leather that was in my stash.  

Special needle

Teflon foot

 

     To sew the faux leather I need to use a leather needle and my teflon foot.  This made the sewing so much easier.

Embroidery detail

Top-stitched seams

     The embroidery design I used was a bike chain heart from Urban Threads.  As my husband and I both love to bike I thought this would be a fun design for our basement which has black leather couch and chairs.  I pressed the seams open and top-stitched to keep everything nice and flat on the front.

Zipper opening

Zipper used

     Instead of a traditional zipper opening on the back, I chose to do an exposed zipper.  I had a two slide zipper in my stash.  I marked a diagonal opening on the back and then cut the opening using a wave rotary cutter.  

Tape used for zipper

Zipper with tape

     To sew the zipper into the opening I used Jewel's Tape to hold it in place as I could not use pins.  I made sure to place the tape well away from the stitch line.

Back of the pillow

     I would like to add some tassels to the zipper pulls for a little more interest to the pillow back.  The covered cord was made from the sweater. 

Quilt Block Pillow

 

Finished quilt block pillow

      I made a quilt top with fabrics I had bought many years ago.  I'm still waiting to take it to the quilter but when I finished the top I had some blocks and other pieces leftover.

Leftover bits and pieces

Leftover quilt block

     Rather than toss it all I decided to make a pillow from it.  I added a border with corner blocks to get a bit larger pillow.  

Trimming off the dog ears

Pillow corner template

     

     After getting the size I needed, I used my pillow corner template from Home Sewing Depot to trim up the corners to prevent 'dog ears' on the pillow.

Adding the lining to the back

     I did add a napped sateen lining to the back and front pieces as it was just lightweight quilting cotton fabric.  This adds a nice heft to the pillow.  I serged the two pieces of fabric together.

Strip set used to make the covered cord

     For the covered cord, I cut bias strips from one of the pieced strip sets, pieced them together and covered my cord.  Construction of the pillow was just the usual steps after that.

Back of the pillow

     Because the fabric I had left over was just in pieces (I had to fussy cut the floral bouquets for the quilt blocks) I was not able to center the floral bouquet in the middle of the pillow back.  It doesn't look bad up in the corner, just not my first choice.

Library Pillow

 

Front of library pillow

     A client brought me a canvas bag that was most likely used as a collection bag for the library.  She had bought it at an antique shop and was planning on making a pillow out of it.  Well several years later she still had not done it so she asked me to do it for her.

Back of library pillow

     I used my clear pillow template with the tapered corners.  This allowed me to center the design for the front and back perfectly.  Even though it was canvas. I added a lining to give it a bit more body.  

Covered cord

     I had some black fabric in my stash that I used to create covered cord.  I think this set off the pillow nicely.  

The canvas bag

     This was another fun project using an item instead of yardage to make a pillow.

Leggings

 

Front view of leggings

     Last year at the ASG Conference, I made a pair of capri length yoga pants.  I liked the fabric and the fit so I bought more fabric last year at conference to make a pair of long ones.  They will be good for winter runs or just lounging around.

Side view

     I did tweak the pattern just a bit from my first pair.  I raised up the center back crotch another inch and cut the waistband 7 inches wide instead of the 6.5 inches I had cut the first.  This made it just a little higher and it felt more snug and even around my waist.

Pattern used

     If I find more fabric I like, I may make another pair, I really like the fit.  They are super comfy.