Cozy Repurposed Sweater Pillows

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close up of light grey, blue, maroon and green striped sweater pillow on red chair

My friend, Karen asked if I could help her with a project.  She’d bought several XL men’s sweaters because she got a great deal on them and loved how cuddly they are.  She’d seen large throw pillows made out of sweaters and wanted to do the same for her family room. 

I did a little research and could only find small accent pillows made from sweaters but nothing that really fit the bill for what Karen had described.  So being a simple girl (with a short attention span), I figured “Who needs a pattern? Let’s just do this.”

I washed the sweaters to let any shrinkage happen.  I figure that these will need to be washed in the future if they’re going to be lounge-y throw pillows. 

Then I laid the sweater out and cut the sleeves off just outside armhole seam. 

I wanted to leave the seam to keep the rest of the sweater from unraveling. 

I considered keeping the sleeves and tucking them into the sweater, but it made the pillow too lumpy to be a cozy lounge-able throw pillow.

I just turned the armhole seams under and hand-stitched the armholes closed.  The sweater is so thick, that the thread disappears into the fabric of the sweater.

pillow form in blue and white plastic bag packaging

After stitching the armholes shut, I inserted the pillow form. 

To find the pillow form, I took the sweater to the craft store and tried it on over different sized pillows until I found one that fit the best.  I like that the pillow form holds its shape better than loose fiberfill.

needle and thread sewing side seam of sweater pillow

Next I stitched the neck closed. I left the collar sticking up because it added more casual character.  But for a more finished look, you could easily turn the neck under.

Finally, I sewed the bottom of the sweater shut.   I had wanted to leave the band out for a more casual look.  But my pillow form wasn’t large enough and it would have looked sadly droopy. I ended up turning the band under and sewing it shut. 

close up of heathered grey and blue and green patterned pillow made from man's sweater

I’m happy with the way they turned out. I really like the neck of the sweater on the top of the pillows.  And the buttons on the sweater on the right are such a great accent.

one light grey and blue striped sweater pillow on brown couch
2 large pillows made with men's sweaters on a brown couch

Karen was really happy with the way the pillows turned out on her couch. We decided to simply place the second sweater (the one with the buttons) over one of the existing couch pillows. It fit perfectly.

Her children love cuddling up on the soft sweater pillows. I understand that there are occasional scuffles over them.  She has three children and sadly, there are only two cozy sweater pillows.

She’s now on the hunt for more sweaters.  She wants to cover the other tan couch pillows with coordinating sweaters so that all the pillows are soft and cuddly.  I can’t wait to see it.

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