Years ago my mom covered a foam cushion for me with crocheted granny squares. I’ve loved that pillow ever since she gave it to me. It was the only pillow I could stand to lay my head on when I had sever migraines in my teens and early twenties. It has even traveled with me. I use it still for my afternoon naps in the living room because it is still a comfortable cushion for sleeping on. I really wish that we could get foam pillows of that type today! It’s the best I’ve ever had.
But, as with all things, age has caused some wear and tear. Though the foam itself is still comfortable, the fabric covering on the foam is starting to disintegrate. I was afraid of damaging the the crochet cover by taking it apart to re-cover the foam itself, so I have been using a pillowcase over it. Recently, though, I decided to make a new cover for it – something that would go in our living room.
I got this pretty white poinsettia fabric on sale at Fabric.com. For some reason this fabric is nostalgic to me. My mom and Gramma Hoover both loved poinsettias, so maybe that’s part of the reason. :-) Anyway, I made a simple fold-over type cover. It isn’t tricky at all, and I didn’t even add a closure on the back, though I may later.
First, I measured and cut the fabric to the width I thought I needed – in this case about a half yard. I folded under one selvedge edge and sewed it. Then I measured again to see how much I needed to have it overlap and added some extra for hemming. I cut off the excess, then folded under the raw edge twice and sewed that. Lastly, I folded the whole thing right sides together with the desired overlap (making sure the double-folded edge was on the actual outside), lined up the sides and sewed the side seams. Then I just turned it right-side-out and ironed it one last time. Easy-peasy.
Here is what the back looks like. It is a little loose because I got it a bit too wide. This could be easily improved by turning it inside-out and sewing one end in a bit farther so that it fits more snugly. Also, I could add a Velcro® closure here.
Over all I’m quite happy with it, though, and this cover will be easy to remove for washing. I have another half yard of the fabric and I may make a second cover so that I can simply swap them once in awhile for washing purposes.
Side note: The lace covered pillow beneath is a bed pillow in a pillow sham from a lovely crocheted bed set a friend gave me. (Yeah, I used “pillow” three times in one sentence. Keep reading. I outdid myself. hehe) The bed coverlet itself was stained and I couldn’t get it clean, so I am using the pillow shams in the living room. I put a solid colored pillowcase on the pillow first then put the crocheted sham on over it. Since I have two, I swap them out once in awhile for washing and ironing. The pillow is part of my napping arrangements, and it looks much dressier and appropriate for the living room in it’s pretty sham. It’s a nice way to “upcycle” or repurpose a pillow sham, and at the same time have a bed pillow in the living room that looks like it belongs here. :-) (It’s also handy for shorter people sitting on our couch to have this pillow to put behind their backs.)
Here’s a video tutorial to help you make your own, using a slightly different method. This is a very easy project. You could give your living room a whole new look in one afternoon with some fabric from your stash. :-)
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