Thursday, May 14, 2009

How to Turn a Cardigan into a Cushion Cover

My friend Debbie passed a beautiful vintage woolen cardigan on to me! Winter is on it's way here in the Southern Hemisphere, so I wanted to make it into a pair of warm and welcoming cushion covers for my living room!
I decided to dye the knit first. I placed the jersey in a pot of boiling red dye on my stove top. This, plus the machine wash afterwards had the effect of felting the knit and firming it up.
Once this was done, I found some moth holes, so I had to cut sections out around these. This meant that I had to patchwork the good sections together again. I did this with a loose herringbone stitch on top and over-stitching on the back.I drew an apple and pear shape onto a piece of interlining, which I ironed onto the back of the knit. This gave me the guidelines for stitching the buttons on.
I backed the cushion covers with a black and white stripe and have filled them with feather inners!Time to snuggle up!

6 comments:

Estelle said...

Oh my goodly gracious me! I would never have thought it started out blue. You're a brave, clever, creative, patient, diligent person.

Marisa said...

I've been wanting to make some new cushion covers and have also needed a project for a lovely jersey that doesn't fit so well - now I can do both!
Very clever lovely idea.

Anairam said...

The problem about falling into a black hole is that I miss all these wonderful posts of yours while I am busy battling my way out! (PS - thanks so much for your supportive comments, Denise). I love that you are still using your magazine table - I still have mine too which I made from your instructions all that time ago. What a fantastic idea to use LPs - I still haven't resolved the top of mine - it has been the (upside-down) top of a biscuit tin for months and months - but I am going to buy some cheap LPs at next month's car boot sale!

Down Comforter said...

Fun idea - perfect for cuddling on a cold winter night :)

kendalee said...

These are so lovely! I loved them when I first saw them and I love them even more now I've seen their metamorphosis. You really have such a gift for transformation. Your table and the pillowcases below are just further gorgeous evidence of this!

Estelle said...

I went to a "Creative Knitters" Exhibition today. Ja, ME! Anyhow, saw some handbags that were made along similar lines - real wool jerseys that were shrunk and then sewn together. Thought you might like the idea. Now if only I had a digital camera....