How To Make Fun Recycled Sweater Beach Ball Pillows
Posted Aug 28, 08 -Filed Under Uncategorized, children's crafts (recycled materials), crafts (recycled materials), gifts from recycled materials, home décor (recycle and upcycle), party favors, reuse sweaters, sewing
I made a whole bunch of these pillows; they make great gifts!
Add a little fun to your home decor. Perfect for children’s rooms!
Using the right sweaters you can create a pillow with a nautical or patriotic look.
How-to:
1. Set aside unwanted or damaged sweaters in desired color(s). Keep in mind that thinner sweaters are easier to sew.
2. You will need a Beach Ball pattern.*
*Because it takes a tremendous amount of time for me to develop projects like this, design and draw a pattern, test ideas, make, take pictures, edit pictures, write the how to, etc… I’m asking for a mere 2 dollars (see side donation button for quick payment with paypal). E-mail me and I’ll e-mail you the pattern in two sizes (large and small).
Print out the ball stencil that I made and use it to make your own stencil out of a cereal box or other scrap cardboard.
Size: The large ball is about 11 to 12 inches tall and the small pillow is about 6 inches tall. The size of your pillow will depends on how stretchy the fabric is and how much you stuff it.
3
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Use your stencil, a rotary cutter, and a cutting matt to cut out the pieces of the ball. If you don’t have a rotary cutter yet, trace the stencil and use fabric scissors to cut them out. You will need 6 pieces per pillow. In addition, you will need two small circles: one for the top and one for the bottom. I just free hand cut the circles two at a time so they are the same size. Alternatively you can trace a small glass or other small round circular item. Keep in mind that the circles have to be bigger than the desired finished size because the raw edges are turned under.
4. Lay out the pieces in a flower shape to help you visualize the pattern and to see how the colors look together. I suggest you find 3 colors that look nice together and then cut 2 pieces of each color or pick 6 colors one piece of each color.
5. Stack the pieces in the pattern order of your choice. Take the first two and sew (right sides together) along one side leaving about ¼ inch seam. Then sew the next piece on and the next until all 6 pieces are together. Don’t bother to place pins because sweater fabric is so stretchy and each piece might stretch a different amount. Also don’t worry if you have a bit of a hole on the top and bottom of your ball because these spots will be covered up by the circles.
6.Sew up the last seam (ball should still be inside out) leaving about 3.5 inches un-sewed.
7.Turn your ball right-side out and add stuffing through the hole you left.
8.The last part is to hand-sew the stuffing hole closed and hand-sew the “buttons” on the top and bottom. Turn under the raw edge as you sew along.
Comments
7 Responses to “How To Make Fun Recycled Sweater Beach Ball Pillows”
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Hi! I just wanted to say thank you for this! My son got to play with a “tagball” the other day and he LOVED it.. This pattern makes it simple to understand how to make a ball shaped pillow! Thank you for the easy guide! I appreciate it soooo much! (and so does my son!
)
Sierra
This is awesome! thanks for the Tutorial!
These are soooo AWESOME!! You are such a creative person! I can’t wait to make one of these for me and my brother (8). We plan to make it in the style of one of our favorite characters, Domo.
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This is awesome! I needed a pattern for a disco ball pillow and was having the hardest time at the fabric store trying to locate the perfect pattern. I found this and it’s great!
Thanks, =o)
hi, i would like to know how to come up with the basic pattern for a ball pillow? there must be a math formula.