Bedtime Story Sweater Pillows

Now that all the kids in my family have opened their Christmas presents, I can show you my favorite sweater pillows that I made--I call them bedtime story sweater pillows.  I got the idea from my little owl pillow that has a pocket on the back. I'm not sure what the pocket is supposed to be for because it's so small (maybe a tooth for the tooth fairy?), but it got me to thinking about pockets and what else I could use one for on a pillow, and I came up with a pocket for a book. Kids always love to have special little places, little compartments for things, and I thought it would be a good spot for a favorite book. I made 12 of them, each with a bookmark, and here are a few of my favorites. Time to snuggle up with a book!

PS. Thanks for your comments about my blog woes!  They made me feel better.  For now, I'll keep doing what I've been doing, but maybe soon I'll have a new look for my blog.

Sweater Weather

Even though it's not quite sweater weather here in San Francisco, I've had sweaters on the brain for the last couple of weeks. I love repurposed sweater crafts. Remember all of these great ideas? Well, I wanted to come up with some things of my own out of a few sweaters that I was ready to part with. I thought a little patchwork throw would be cute, but I didn't have quite enough sweaters so I hit the thrift store, and now I seem to have developed a sweater addiction. I've amassed quite a sweater collection. After a warm wash and dry, they're in fluffy, wooly piles on the floor in our bedroom. Instead of making the throw for now, I've been making pillows. Lots and lots of pillows!

Lisa is having a little craft sale get-together at her house in November and asked if I'd like to participate. I wanted to use the sweaters and thought pillows would be fun to make. I think I've made 12 so far, but these are a few favorites. My wool town pillow, remote control pillow, and sweater vest pillow. Last weekend at the flea market I bought a small stack of wool plaid blanket samples. I wasn't sure what I'd do with them, but they were so great I thought I could come up with something. They're the perfect size for a little houses.

Lisa actually gave me the idea for the remote pillow. I have a cute little pillow with a pocket in the back, but I've never known what it was for. It's the size of a credit card, so I thought maybe it was a tooth fairy pillow. I tried to think of some other pocket ideas for pillows and Lisa suggested a remote pocket. It's been quite handy the last few days! That darn thing always goes missing, doesn't it? Like socks in the dryer, it just seems to disappear sometimes. Not anymore! The pocket and back for this pillow is from a super soft cashmere sweater. The remote now has a posh home and won't get lost. (Caroline gave me the needlepoint bunny pillow--it just looks cute with remote pillow.)

And the grey one above is from a really pretty sweater vest. I wanted to keep it to wear, but it was way too itchy. And for this one I made my first buttonholes with my sewing machine! That was so fun. I made them a little too big, but I just ended up using larger buttons, which fixed the problem.

These are just a few of the pillows. My favorite pillow design will have to stay a secret until after Christmas. It's for a few little people in my family. They wouldn't see it on my blog, but their mommy would.

BYOB (and PP)

Today there was a cute sign at the farmer's market--it said, "BYOB, please. Bags .25¢." We normally bring our own bags, but today was a special day because I brought my very own bag that I made. My first ever tote bag, lined and with a pocket! I finished it this week along with Alicia's patchwork pillows that I started while we were at the beach. My bag is by no means perfect. If you looked closely, you'd be able to see lots of mistakes, including the handle that I sewed on twisted for the second time, which I still have to fix. But it's sort of like a first kiss to me--it doesn't matter if I didn't know what I was doing or if it ended up being a little sloppy--it's my first, and I'm so excited about it. Pillows are great, but a bag, it's extra special. You can, after all, carry stuff in it. It took me six hours (I know, that's a long time for a bag!), and I made lots of mistakes along the way, but the experience was so satisfying. Below are two pictures of my projects in the works while we were at the beach.


I love sewing lately. It's hard for me, though. For example, I've been trying to figure out how to make a french seam for dresses, and I thought my brain was going to turn inside out trying to figure it out. This video finally helped me understand it. Alicia has written a lot about sewing recently. If you have any interest in sewing at all, you should head over and read her posts here and here. If you want to learn to sew, those two posts will probably motivate you to get a machine asap. If you're an experienced sewer, you will relate and appreciate her experiences and insights.

My completed market tote bag! The pocket is dark blue denim, which looks really dark here, but it's actually blue.

And the patchwork pillows! This first one is for my sister. I decided to do pom pom trim instead of the cording just because I like pom poms.


This one is for Lois. It looks really cute in her room with little doll Lois, who I found at a flea (artwork by her cousin, Cash, and awesome ruffle pillow beside patchwork pillow by my aunt, Kay).



Next on the project list: more dresses, coming soon.