Pillow Sweaters

'Tis the season to be crafty!

I'm in a place in my life where I want my home to be a grown-up level of festive, but I don't really have the budget or the stockpile of decorations to do it. So I'm starting that stockpile. Little by little.

This year, one of the things I'm adding to the stockpile is some new pillowcases. In case you were wondering, I consider sewing the fourth side of a pillow to be one of the worst things that a person could be forced to do. Right up there with talking with a close talker.

So, I took a look at my sofa...

...and realized that it wasn't exactly the most festive thing out there. I love those pillows and all, but they don't exactly scream CHRISTMAS.

Living in Seattle, I know that our thrift stores can get picked over pretty quickly. I also know that, with ugly sweater party season upon us, the selection of festive sweaters - ugly or not - would be pretty slim.
I had the bright idea to buy some thrift store Christmas sweaters to cover them up.

Then, I had the brighter idea to use CARDIGANS!

I snagged these three at Value Village and whipped up some cozy little sweaters for my pillows. Bonus: buttons. Because all of them have button closures, I just had to sew the four corners and button them straight over the existing pillowcase!

Behold:

Cozy little pillows.

I'm already formulating a new project to use this technique, so stay tuned for an in-depth tutorial!

Halloween Sneak Peek

My mother is a magnificent seamstress. As a result, I had some pretty spectacular Halloween costumes as a kid. As I got older, though, I could never decide what I wanted to be, and so the creativity of my costumes totally tanked.

Seriously. I was a shooting star one year. I just tied blue and silver ribbons to my elbows and knees. It was sad.

But this year, I had somebody suggest a costume for me. Admittedly, it was like May, but I latched onto it and have been completely convinced that it is the best idea.

I'm going to be a black-and-white movie star!!!

Originally, I was going to make my own dress from an authentic 30s pattern, but then I was thrift shopping and found this beauty:

Don't mind the mess in the hallway...

Sure, it's a little 80s, but just LOOK at the trim:

And the knot at the waist!

And it was like $22! That's cheaper than the pattern I was going to buy! The PATTERN.

So I'm thinking: ditch the shoulder pads, trim one of the layers of trim, and possibly take it in a bit on the sides.

Pair it with black shoes, black gloves, grey tights, and grey face/body paint, and I'll be good to go.

Stay tuned for more updates on how the costume turns out!!