Thursday, January 26, 2012

The Sweetest Days of St. Valentine Series: Re-Cycled Valentine Heart Pillow


The pink is the pillow getting ready for the makeover.
This past weekend, two of my neighbors were having yard sales.  I picked up quite a few things for pennies. I saw a sweet little pink pillow and immediately thought Valentine's Day.  The pillow had tiny, subtle dark pink and white stripes and a few gathered pieces.  But I thought it could use more and I knew I could add a little pizazz of my own.


I am always looking for throw pillows at neighbor's yard sales, because I know whether the pillow has been in a pet free environment.  This matters to me because my teenage son has horrible allergies.  Even if I throw a pillow cover in the wash, the pillow form itself gets to him if it's been in a house with a cat.



Today, I sat down for a few minutes to spruce up this pillow.  Remember these from my 25 Days of Christmas and Holiday Series?



Well, I still have some red sweater leftover and, you guessed it, I decided to use it on this project. I thought it would make a wonderfully cozy looking bright red heart for the front of the pillow.   I took the leftovers out along with my spare fabric from my Kitchen Cabinet Becomes an Open Shelf Makeover.  Remember that post?  Woodsy is still sitting on that shelf.  He loves it there next to Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook.

Anyhoo...I knew that since I was going to be cutting a shape out of the sweater, it was going to need some type of backing to stabilize it.  The black checked fabric that I used in the open cabinet still had some Mod Podge dried to the back, but this didn' deter me. I knew it would work regardless.







I first cut out a paper heart the size I wanted.  I faced the fabric and the sweater wrong sides together and before cutting the fabrics, I stitched a heart using the paper heart as my guide.

After the heart was stitched, I cut it out.  I did it this way because I knew it would be easier since the sweater material, now stabilized by the checked fabric, would then be able to keep it's shape.



I then used a satin stitch on the outer edge of the applique to seal off the fuzzy sweater edges.  I added a little homespun running stitch along the edge of the heart using three strands of white embroidery floss.


I then just simply whip stitched the heart onto the front of the pillow in three places using a red thread. Three snips after Valentine's Day and I can do something else.

Here is my simple, Recycled Valentine Heart Pillow



Do you look for this type of thing when you are shopping at your thrift shops or yard sales?  Do you ever notice that the plain pillows are always the ones leftover on sale at your favorite stores?  Don't overlook this stuff.  For pennies, you can create something that is uniquely yours.

After finishing taking images of the pillow out in my backyard, I placed the pillow on my wicker chair in my studio.  My Coco hasn't moved from this spot.  Seems she approves too!


Gotta love the little furbabies.  They've got great taste!

Stay tuned for another great project in my series 
The Sweetest Days of St. Valentine!  



-The End-
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14 comments:

Rosemary@villabarnes said...

I love how you recycle. It's adorable.

Cassie Bustamante said...

if a pillow like this were on my couch, i would be happy all the time. i love it!

Twice Nice said...

I love how you simplify a project so it is so easy to replicate! What a "sweetheart" project! Deb

Vickie @ Ranger 911 said...

Looks like Coco claimed it!

Deneen@dreaming-n-color said...

precious puppy! love the pillow too

Grammy Goodwill said...

I wrote a creative comment that got lost, so I'll just say your pillow looks great. I love the addition of the heart!

Unknown said...

Oh my that is beautiful. great ideas you have !
Coco is so cute. I had a cat (calico) named Coco too ! Coco was actually named after Coco Channel, my fav perfume at the time LOL

-KAT-

Honey at 2805 said...

Very sweet! Thank you for sharing your lovely
Valentines ideas at Potpourri Friday!

Unknown said...

This is so cute! Anytime I bring anything new in (like pillows and blankets) my pets are all over them like I bought it or made it specifically for them! :) I'd love it if you stopped by my linky party and link up one of your favorite posts! www.serendipityandspice.blogspot.com
-Melissa

cheapcraftymama said...

So cute! I would love it if you would link up to my Valentines Party @ www.cheapcraftymama.com!

Katie said...

I'm loving this pillow!!!

very merry vintage style said...

Adorable! Love that it's made from recycled goodies!
Mary

Ika Verunica said...

Prelijep ti je jastuk!!!!

Lisa Montsion said...

I am in love with the heart you put on the pillow.

lisa