Yummy Cashmere Pillows

Pillows from old sweaters made the blog rounds a while ago, and they seemed so cozy they've stayed on my mind. I found the softest cashmere sweater at the Salvation Army for $3; it had some small holes so it was begging to be repurposed. Since I wanted two, I decided to make the back of the pillow from fabric in my stash. Here's how.

Supplies:
1 14" pillow form
1 large sweater
2 square of coordinating fabric, 14" (seam allowance included)*
1 rectangle of coordinating fabric, 14" x 7"
2 1" buttons

*a tip from House on Hill Road: pillow cases look better if they are slightly smaller than their pillow forms.

Placing one 14" square on your sweater as a rough guide, cut a square out of your sweater larger than 14".


To keep the sweater from warping, sew the sweater to one square of fabric, then cut to size. You can keep this step if your sweater is fairly sturdy.

Fold over hem at the top of the other fabric square and sew down. Cut triangles out of the corner of the rectangle, 3" from the corners, and discard. Hem edges.


Evenly from the edges, add two buttonholes to the corners of the formerly rectangular piece. Pin this piece on top of the hemmed square so that it forms a new 14" square.


Sew the buttonhole side to the sweater side, right sides together, turn right side out, add buttons, and presto, you have a ridiculously cheap cashmere pillow. It's hard to capture how delightfully cozy and soft these pillows are... just look at this pile.



Mmmm... cashmere.