How to Make a Cushion from a Jumper

I love a bit of upcycling.  Not being the craftiest person on the block, upcycling old clothes always stumps me a little bit, so thankfully today, the lovely Juliet Bawden from the blog Creative Colour is here to teach us how to make a cushion from a jumper. 

Thankfully, you don’t have to be too crafty to be able to turn your old jumper into a cosy cushion.  All you need is some very basic sewing skills – you don’t even need to have a sewing machine!  

How To Make A Cushion From A Jumper

You Will Need

• 1 Sweater
• Sewing machine (optional)
• Thread
• Scissors
• Seam ripper
• Tapestry needle
• Wool
• Clothes Shaver (optional)

Instructions

1. Wash and dry your jumper, and if it’s particularly bobbly, use the clothes shaver on it to remove the bobbles.

2.  Using the seam un-picker, open up the side seams, as in the photo below.

3.  Cut two rectangles from the front and the back of the sweater, and with the two right sides facing, pin them together so that when pinned together the sweater is now inside out.

4.  Using a 1 cm seam allowance, sew the rectangles together around 3 of the sides.  Leave what was the bottom of the sweater open, as the welt (the bottom of the sweater) will have a neat un-frayed edge.  For the sewing, if you are not using a sewing machine, then I would recommend using a back stitch to give more durability.

5.  Turn the cover inside out, so that it is now the right way up.  Insert the cushion pad, and close with an oversew stitch, and you’re done!

6.  Cosy up on the sofa with a cup of tea, and a good book.

I am going to be trying this for sure!  I have a lovely jumper that my youngest daughter has almost grown out of.  My eldest wore the same jumper too, and I’m really loathed to part with it, so I think would make a brilliant cushion when it no longer fits.

Any more upcycling tips?  Let me know!

ps: if you liked this post then you might like this post on no sew clothing DIYs, and this one!