How to Make Pillow Covers Out of Knitted Sweaters
Wool sweaters require hand washing or they will felt and shrink, making them too small and dense to wear. Moths also eat holes in sweaters that are unable to be repaired. Regardless of the reason, many times you end up with a sweater that can no longer be worn and is not in shape to be donated. Reuse the undamaged parts of the sweater as fabric for craft projects.
Instructions
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Cut one 13-by-13 inch from a sweater. Cut two13-by-8 inch pieces from the sweater. Do not worry if the orientation of the knit on the sweater is different on each piece. It will add visual interest to the finished product.
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2
Fold one side of each of the small rectangles over toward the back, ½ inch along the 13-inch side of the fabric. Sew along the folded edge, in ¼ inch from the edge of the fabric, to create a finished edge.
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3
Overlap the finished edges of the rectangles so the two pieces make a 13-inch square. Pin the overlapping areas of the fabric together to prevent movement. The right side of the fabric should be facing out. Sew in ¼ inch along the side of the overlapping rectangles. Remove the pins.
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4
Place the right side of the 13-by-13 inch square facing the top of the rectangles you pinned together. Pin the square to the rectangles. Sew in ½ inch from the edge of the square all the way around the square.
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There should be an opening where the fabric overlaps. Use this area to reach inside and pull the right side of the fabric out. Insert a 12-by-12 inch pillow form into the pillow case cover.
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Tips & Warnings
Alter the size of the pillow cover you are making by cutting larger or smaller pieces of fabric from your sweater. If your sweater is not large enough for the size of the pillow cover you want to make, piece together sweaters by cutting squares out of the sweater and sewing along one side with the right sides together. Open the fabric with the seam on the back. Felting the sweater before cutting it up will make the material stiffer and easier to work with. You can felt the sweater by washing it on a hot setting with a cold rinse cycle in the washing machine.
