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!

NQF: Wild times at the Goodwill

Back in November there was a day where the weather forecast called for rain in the morning, and only the morning. So, of course, it was raining in the morning, and then it kept going lightly in to the afternoon, and then it started back up right when I got out of the T in the evening. Go figure, it is New England, the weather changes.  Even though I had an umbrella, I felt it prudent to wait until the rain subsided so that neither my feet nor my computer would get wet.  I’m cautious like that.  I also have a fondness for the ‘Miscellaneous Metal’ section of the Goodwill, so that’s where I went to wait out the storm.  Nothing panned out there, and the rain kept going, so I wandered into the women’s sweaters ($4.99 each!), and at the very last section I saw it (actually I can see it now too, because I’m wearing it) -- a wool cardigan, from a familiar brand, with a print just odd enough to be interesting. I’m calling it animal-esque. 

Giraffe? Leopard? Paintbrush?  Giro-pard?

There were two holes so small I didn’t notice them until after getting the cardigan home, washing it, laying out to dry, and asking my roommate what I should wear with it.  I fixed them.  Can you see the repaired areas in the picture below?

How about if I circle the repairs in red?

If anyone in real life is looking that closely at the back of my sweater I'll be happy to tell them the whole story, otherwise I'm calling this a win for the DIY needle and thread repair.  I should have taken a 'before' picture, but got carried away in the excitement. They were around the size of a dime each, pretty small, but noticeable if you were wearing a contrasting color underneath this wild cardigan.  And yes, I do get excited about repairing sweaters from time to time.

That's the story of my walk on the wild side in the aisles of Goodwill.

Happy freestyling, rawr.