Upcycled Sweater Mountain Cushion (Pillow)
Mountain Cushion : As a reminder of my love of mountains I upcycled some old wool sweaters into a mountain cushion / pillow.
I love living in Bedford, but there are a couple of things I don’t like, it’s as flat as a pancake, and is probably as far from the coast you can get in the UK. I love mountains, in fact my whole family loves mountains.
My husband and boys make an annual mountain climbing pilgrimage. They have now climbed all the major peaks in the UK, so will probably venture abroad for their next trip. We also all love to ski & snowboard especially in the Alps. However our favourite mountains are those in Norway, we love the stunning fjords where the mountains meet the sea.
When upcycling my sweaters into a mountain cushion I decided that I would turn them into my own little mountain range, as reminder of what I’m missing.
Hardanger Fjord Norway
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What you need to make a Mountain Cushion
- Old woollen sweaters (65% or more). Preferably in neutral colours like greys and greyish greens.
- Small piece of cream felt (or cream woollen sweater).
- Pillow stuffing.
- Needle and thread, can either be sewn by hand or by machine
- Pins, scissors, large sheet of paper (for pattern) & a pen
How to felt woollen Sweaters
Felting wool is really easy. Like me you have probably done this in the past. Where you have accidently shrunk your sweater in the wash so that it is only fit for a toddler to wear !
To felt my sweaters, I just put them in a hot ‘cotton’ wash in the washing machine along with my normal washing. I then dry them in the dryer. I have managed to felt sweaters without using the dryer, but it does make them softer. If for some reason this doesn’t work you can repeat the process again. Basically to felt woollen sweaters you need, heat, water and agitation.
Felting binds the wool together which enables the sweaters to be cut without unravelling or fraying.
How to make a Mountain Cushion
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- Lay your sweater down with the front facing up. Make a paper pattern of a mountain outline as big as is possible for your sweater.
- Lay your sweater down with the front facing up. Make a paper pattern of a mountain outline as big as is possible for your sweater.
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- Pin this paper pattern on top of your sweater, and draw a snowy outline for the top of your mountain.
- Pin this paper pattern on top of your sweater, and draw a snowy outline for the top of your mountain.
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- Using the pattern cut out 2 identical mountain pieces on from the font of your sweater and one from the back. Cut out your paper mountain top and use this as a template for cutting out 2 identical cream felt snowy mountain pieces.
- Using the pattern cut out 2 identical mountain pieces on from the font of your sweater and one from the back. Cut out your paper mountain top and use this as a template for cutting out 2 identical cream felt snowy mountain pieces.
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- Pin the cut out cream snow pieces to the top of each mountain piece. Both pieces should be right side up. Sew round the edges of the cream snow piece attaching it to the sweater pieces.
- Pin the cut out cream snow pieces to the top of each mountain piece. Both pieces should be right side up. Sew round the edges of the cream snow piece attaching it to the sweater pieces.
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- Now pin the two mountain pieces right sides together and sew round the edge, leaving a small hole at the bottom for stuffing.
- Now pin the two mountain pieces right sides together and sew round the edge, leaving a small hole at the bottom for stuffing.
- Using the hole, turn the sweater mountain cushion right way out. Stuff the cushion through this hole and then sew up to finish.
I love my snowy topped cushion so much that I made another; one soon I will have my own mountain range. I think my cushion will look great with my piste map chair when I finish it. They would also make a great seasonal gift for any mountain loving friends or family. You could make it more personal by repurposing one of their own sweaters.
If you liked this here are some other posts you might want to check out.
DIY Fabric Stags Head
Upcycled Sweater Bunny Cushion
DIY iphone denim pocket pillow
You can find more upcycled craft ideas at favcrafts. Or for more sewing patterns subscribe to allfreesewing.com
Diane
Love your idea and I live in Vermont .. are wool sweaters the only kind that you can use. Thought of going to our local thrift store to look around
Claire Armstrong
The thing about wool sweaters is that they can be felted and felt doesn’t fray. You could try other sweater fabrics and see if they would work too, as with this project fraying is not a big issue. You could of course just make the trees with craft felt.
Toni | Small Home Soul
I might have commented on these awesome pillows before, and I’ve surely pinned them to my favorite pillow board. But I just now saw the tip about how to felt a wool sweater. I didn’t know that’s what it was called. But now I’ll be looking for wool sweaters at my local thrift stores 🙂
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Toni. I’m lucky in that my family hands me all there old sweaters and jeans that’s why I have loads to upcycle.
ΙΟΑΝΝΑ
I want to make a mountain-pillow!!!Yours are great!!!
Claire Armstrong
Cheers and thank you!
Sam @ Raggedy Bits
These have to be the cutest cushions! So clever Claire!!!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much Sam.
Carolann
Super cute! I can’t wait to try and make one. I love the snow caps!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much. I just love the mountains and I thought it would be fun to have some mountain cushions.
Katy SkipTheBag
These are so fun! I love the snow cap. Thanks for sharing on the Waste Less Wednesday Blog Hop!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you !
Ashley ~ 3 Little Greenwoods
Adorable pillow and perfect for an adventurous little boys bedroom! Pinning!
Thanks so much for sharing your creativity at the The DIY Collective this week! Hope to see you again next Thursday. The party begins at 6:00am EST.
Hope you had an awesome weekend!
~ Ashley
Claire Armstrong
Thank you very much ! And thank you for hosting.
Sigrid
This is so original! I love your mountain cushions! Thank you for the inspiration!
Greetings from Belgium, Sigrid
Claire Armstrong
Thank you for your kind words, and greetings from England !
All that's Jas
Super cute mountains at your fingertips! Thank you so much for sharing with us at Thursday Favorite Things blog hop.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, for visiting !
Catherine Elizabeth
This is such a great idea! And how lovely that you now have a tiny, cuddly mountain range to remind you of mountains. I recently saw a crochet pattern for mountain cushions, so there’s clearly a mountain movement emerging!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you ! I will definately be adding to my mountain range. Not sure about crocheting some though, I just have too many things on my crochet list at the moment, I’ll stick to felting as its quicker and easier. So much crafting to do and just not enough time !
Jane @SustainMyCraftHabit
Such a great idea. Love these! Your love of the mountains is like my love of the beach- am always trying to bring more of it into my home.
Stopping by from the Weekend Retreat Link Up.
Claire Armstrong
Thanks ! I love the sea too, that’s probably why the Norwegian Fjords are my favourite as they are where the mountains meet the sea the best of both worlds.
Cheryl@ Sew Can Do
So clever and cuddly! Visiting from CraftGossip’s Blog Handmade link-up:)
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much for visiting glad you like them they are lovely and soft.
T'onna @ USS Crafty
Such a cool pillow! We have really gorgeous mountains here in Washington, so maybe I should make a similar pillow, too! Thanks for sharing at Submarine Sunday!!
Claire Armstrong
Thanks, you should give it ago, they do make me smile.
Anna | ANNAdventure Blog
I LOVE this idea!!! I live in Colorado so I will definitely be making these 🙂 <3
Claire Armstrong
Lucky you living near mountains. Thanks !
Michelle L
This is so brilliant! And adorable! I imagine these in every mountain cabin in the land. Also looks pretty doable for a beginning sewer like me. Thanks so much for the idea!
Claire Armstrong
Thank You ! It is very easy to do, and I think they would look great in a mountain cabin.
Kate
These are darling! Seriously, I can’t get over how cute they are!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you very much ! I really like them too and they are really soft and cosy.
Noa Ambar Regev
So beautiful! I love this idea. You could also make them from colorful/patterned sweaters and create colorful mountain cushions 🙂 (pinned!)
Claire Armstrong
Yes colourful ones would look great too! Cheers!
Laura H.
How clever. I would of never thought of using a sweater like this. I love it. Thanks for linking up to the Home Matters Party with you! #HomeMattersParty Hope to see you next week. http://lauraslittlehousetips.com/home-matters-linky-party-59/
Claire Armstrong
Thank you ! I keep all the families old sweaters for upcycling projects especially the soft ones.
Anne
So fun!!! A little sweater mountain range!! I’ve got a Craft Gossip post scheduled for tomorrow evening that links to your tutorial: http://sewing.craftgossip.com/?p=85005 –Anne
Claire Armstrong
Thanks a look forward to seeing it.
Christine
Hi Claire, I love these pillows, they remind me of our Mt Rainier here in WA State. Thanks so much for leaving me some comment luv on my spool table post. I tried to reply directly to your comment, but you came up as a non reply blogger. Are you from Norway????? christinevandorm@gmail.com
Claire Armstrong
Thanks for your lovely comments, my husband is from Norway. I was actually born and bought up in Hong Kong, where I lived on Mt Nicholson but it never had snow on it.
KariAnne
What a super cute idea! Thanks so much for sharing and I love the detailing on the pillows!
Happy day friend!
karianne
Claire Armstrong
Thank you ! They really do look sweet on my sofa and are lovely and soft.
creativejewishmom/sara
love it! and now maybe I’ll just have to use my husband’s cotton sweater with the bleach stains on it to make something too…..no felting of course, but could still be great…though I just realized it has a zipper down the front, hmmm. thanks so much for sharing on craft schooling sunday!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you ! I’m sure with your creative brain you could come up with something !
Ginny
What cute cushions. I am always making those felted jumpers without intending to. I also love your map chair. I have an old atlas set aside, with the idea of doing something like this to a table.
Claire Armstrong
Thanks glad you like the cushions I’ve done a post about a map table my friend did it worked out really well. You should definitely give it ago.