Mood Mirrored Indigo

The Find

Textiles can be a tricky freestyle find, there is always a question of the lurking unseen microbial presence on whatever fabric has been sitting outside, unattended, for some amount of time.  And of course, things on the curb could always fall victim to a lifted dog leg. But if something is small enough to go STRAIGHT INTO THE WASHING MACHINE upon arrival at home, well, then, I feel pretty good. I've stayed in hotels, how different could it be?  Now that you've read my thoughts on freestyle textile find hygiene, let me tell you about ... a freestyle textile find!

I came across this cool pillow cover (with separate insert) embellished with numerous tiny mirrors, one of a few options in a giveaway box at the end of someone's driveway. So much sewing detail, possibly done by hand - I appreciate such work.  There is no tag on the pillowcase, but the fabric felt like cotton, so I immediately had an idea for a makeover.

Freestyle pillow find on curb

The Makeover

I had an existing dye bath setup from some exploratory home-shibori fun in the color Indigo, and the dye type was one for natural fibers. So after a hot wash in the washing machine, the pillowcase went into the dye bath to sit for a while and (hopefully) absorb as much dye as possible.  Without any fiber information I wasn't sure how the results would look, but as a hedge I let the pillowcase sit in the dye bath for a long time. As in, it sat in the dye bath for multiple weeks. I also decided to order some dye fixative, since my previous shibori experiments had faded quickly without this critical ingredient.  Lesson learned.

Ingredients used to dye pillowcase

This is what the mirrored pillowcover looked like when it finally came out, lots of deep indigo color.  But would it hold?

After the dye bath

There were hopeful signs that the dye fixative had done as promised since the color was dark even after rinsing the textile in cold water until the water ran clear.  But the true test is always the washing machine.

Conclusion

The indigo color held up well after a washing machine cycle, so I'm calling it a success.  Here it is, minimally 'styled' on a couch with two other throw pillows (yes, they were free too, the complimentary colors are a coincidence).

Mirror mirror on the indigo blue pillowcase

Here are two detail shots that highlight the interesting diamond pattern embroidery.

Embroidery detail: angled view

Embroidery detail: front view

Happy freestyling, don't be afraid of a little elbow grease that might be needed to clean something and make it your own!

X-linked freestyle

X-fabric marks the freestyle spot

As someone who works with physical materials (paint, wood, metal, fabric, etc) I tend to accumulate all manner of supplies.  Long-time readers also know I take free things even if I'm not exaaaactly how I'm going to use them.  In my desire to avoid waste I have been known (known to myself at least) to hold on to things like fabric for a long time, we're talking years here. But sometimes the stars align and I realize it's time to clear out the old and send it along to someone else who might be able to make something of it.  Such was the case with this upholstery fabric which had been patiently waiting to become something for 3+ years.  A friend had a purple couch, and the fabric has purple in the color scheme, so she took the fabric and the loan of my sewing machine and got to work making herself some new covers for her accent pillows.

Freestyle for the triple win

Conclusion

The results are fabulous and fun. I couldn't be happier that I was able to help someone else in their freestyling!

Happy freestyling!

Isunda gray couch cover find, ta da!

In my last post I described finding the Isunda gray couch cover for free on our loading dock / furniture discard area. All it required was a little dis-assembly of the discarded couch so that I could remove the cover pieces.

And then wash them. 

And then dry them.

And then partially disassemble my existing couch,

 take off the old boring blah beige cover and replace it with the new gray one.

No pictures for any of those steps, you can imagine what doing laundry looked like.

But it is safe to say that even though the tag says 'no machine wash' for all of the cover pieces, you most definitely can was them in a machine, using cold water, gentle cycle, and line drying.

No need to dry clean.

Here she is!

Contrast couch, with new pillows!

The lighting is kind of wonky, but I think it looks a 10^6 times better.

Did you notice the brown square velvet pillow on the right? 

Looking good together.
From initial find to final product it was only 2 days.

Happy freestyling!

Vellllllllvehhhhhhht pillllllloooooooows

Pillows are a rare find on the loading dock. 

Perhaps because they are lightweight and easy to move, perhaps people here just don't go for throw pillows, perhaps people throw them out in trashbags and I never see them. Whatever the case, I was surprised (delighted) to see these lovely throw pillows late at night, clearly part of a massive moving-out discardfest.

 No, I did not take the couch, or the blanket.

Maybe I should have, but the couch had a few bites taken out of it from a pet and I don't really need another blanket...... Anyway, look at those pillows!  Do people know how expensive those pillow inserts can be??? These pillows didn't smell, had no rips or stains, and had clearly only been on the loading dock for a few hours, so into the washing machine they went. After I washed them I took the inserts out to read the labels (wow, real down, survived the machine wash just fine) and found out they are brand name pillowcases with nice hidden zippers. Did I mention they're velvet, velvet, and velllllllvehhhhhhht?

Now they sit like lovely jewels on the couch, waiting to support your head, and to look darn good while doing just that.

Happy freestyling.

NQF: Scrap fabric leftover into pillowcover

Ornate paisley prints tend to catch my eye, and this one was no exception when I first saw it...... 

two years ago. It was a remnant piece for sale at the MiniShop section of Bits of Thread (http://www.bitsofthread.com/supplies-and-services/shop/).

swirly paisley

There were grand visions of making giant floor box cushions, then reality struck.

So the paisley pattern waited patiently until I decided it was time to try to brighten up the dull beige couch that sits against a beige wall.

Paisley pillow cover

The couch and overall living room are a work in progress.

I've got enough fabric for a second pillow cover, hopefully it won't take two years to be inspired again.

Happy not-quite-free freestyling.

NQF: Argyle sweater into pillow cover

     Summer isn't the usual time to look for lambswool sweaters, but any time of year is right for felted wool craft projects!  This  Not-Quite-Free project arose from a request for some softer pillow covers to go over existing pale blue denim pillows. I don't remember who made the request....it might have been me.

Another gem from the thrift store

This project is from the archives, it started more than one winter ago, maybe even two, but I'd never gotten the photos together until now.  Anyway, if you are doing summer clothing cleanouts and want a new way to use that sweater than you like but never wear, consider re-purposing it into a pillow cover. 

The sweater I used was made from 100% lambswool, says so right there on the tag.  If you are going to shrink a sweater make sure it is 100% wool, no nylon or rayon allowed!

 This was a bit of a quick and easy project, I didn't want to fuss with zippers or buttons, so I opted for tie closures along the bottom.

See the denim peeking through? Durable, but not as soft.

 Not super pretty in the end, but this wasn't for a fashion magazine.

The end product after over a year in service - a few fabric pills but still soft and sporting that awesome argyle patterns.

Happy re-using and freestyling!