Making sweater pillows out of unused knit sweaters is a quick and super easy way to make your home cozy for the winter! You'll love our simply tutorial on how to whip some up for your couches!
The weather is changing and its time to cozy up the home! Put away the beach toys and pull out the comforters! Are you assessing last year's warm weather wardrobe? Do you have a few sweaters that are looking a little stretched or you just don't wear them anymore? Follow our sweater pillows tutorial below on how to put new life into them!
Any size sweater with some texture will do great. Just measure the width across from side to side and get a square pillow form in those measurements. Sweaters from the thrift store work fine too! I found four cream-colored chunky knit sweaters for about $4 each.
Step 1: Starting at the narrowest part of the sweater, which is probably down near the waist, mark a straight line going upwards with pins and across the neckline so that you have marked out a box.
Step 2: Sew along those pinned lines, pivoting at the corners. Along the bottom, sew only half way across. Do you see the loose thread on the right side below? Start there and end at the pin in the middle.
Step 3: Cut off the arms and turtle neck, leaving about a half inch seam allowance. Note that if you want to avoid dealing with those tricky, thick shoulder seams, you can always sew further in and make a smaller box that doesn't include the funky seams.
Step 4: Turn it inside out and stuff it with your pillow insert.
Step 5: Hand sew the rest of it shut with a needle and thread and you're done! Don't these sweater pillows look cozy for winter?
Do you have other favorite re-purposing projects? What else have you made with unused sweaters or clothes?
Anne says
Beautiful! I've got a Craft Gossip post scheduled for tomorrow morning that features your sweater pillow tutorial:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/?p=89729
--Anne
Camille says
Wow, thanks so much!
G K says
I love the texture! I've seen these pillows before, and I finally know what to do with old sweaters.
Amber Ludwig says
Ah!! This is such a great idea!! I love the look of them and love how easy they are!!
Dotty J Boucher says
I love this idea of making a pillow out of a sweater or even old shirts you have. I love the style of the sweater though more and how easy
this is to make.
@tisonlyme143
Rosie says
These came out really cute! I'm not sure I've repurposed much, I have quite a bit of fabric I haven't used. But I would love to do this, and try to use old sweaters I already have and haven't worn in ages!
Renee Rousseau says
I have several date lambs wool sweaters that I definitely am going to use for this craft. Love your sweater pillows!
Rosie says
I'd like to do more repurposing, I can't think of anything I've done. This is so cute, and there are so many old sweaters not getting used. I want to try this.
Jessi Housel says
I have made pillows out of old t-shirts but never thought to make a sweater pillow! how clever! Thanks for sharing
Linda Manns Linneman says
This is such a cute idea. I love that you were able to reuse this material. Thank you so much for sharing this. God Bless
Julie Wood says
These pillows are just adorable! I want to make the sweater pillows and have in my house on the couch. Thanks for the idea!
ellen beck says
Very nice post! I have done this before with sweaters and shirts and even blue jeans (kinda fun) I like to sew but havent been lately.
Christina A. says
Oh--I love this idea! My mother-in-law is a super great seamstress and I'm going to mention this to her!