Leaves are Falling.

I know its still the middle of August and 90 degrees outside....but the Tulip Poplar hanging over our house is dropping dead leaves, school is back in session, and a pumpkin spiced latte sounds pretty good already (granted, I think those things would be good all year).

I've never been much of a seasonal decorator, but my good friend Jenny was talking about making some sweater pillows the other day for fall. When I realized how "springy" my living room pillows are, I decided to just get right on it. Here's how:

Start with a sweater of your choice (I thrifted mine for $2.00). It needs to be big enough to cover your pillow, of course.

Then cut it into a square. Make sure the sides are finished, leaving the top and bottom open. (My sweater was a little too wide, so I needed to stitch each side, but you may be able to use the sweater sides as your seams.)

To make the ruffle, I cut a 5" wide strip of fabric. Mine was about twice the length of my pillow, but I ended up cutting several inches off because it was more than enough . Hem each side of the strip, then sew a long basting stitch on the outside of each hem line.

Your fabric will gather into a ruffle and you can pull the end strings to adjust the gather and spread it out evenly.

Then lay it on the top layer of your sweater cover and pin it down. Sew on top of the ruffle on each side attaching it to the top layer of the pillow cover.

After that, I just sewed the top & bottom of the cover (while it was inside out), leaving a 5 inch gap in the bottom to stuff the pillow insert into.

This cover is meant to be temporary, but because I didn't want to work with Velcro or buttons today, I just stitched up the bottom hole with a needle and white thread. It will be very easy to open up this hole in 6-8 months when I decide to remove it.

Wa-laaa.

If you read this blog to see babies and NOT crafts, sorry for this long and boring post. Here's one for you: