The other life of a blanket {thrifted and upcycled}

Thursday 8 November 2012

I thought of a new series for the blog - the One Hour Project, and this was supposed to be my first project, except that it took me all afternoon, and evening to make it - and that is for one cushion only, when I need two. An hour project I don't think so - thrifted and upcycled definitely!

I bought this pure wool vintage blanket probably 6 months ago - and yes, it had been sitting at the top of the stairs for that long. And now that I am on a cleaning drive (but still sleeping loads), it had to be made into what I always had in mind - new cushion covers for our spare bedroom. 

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway - open until Friday night**



I bought the blanket for the blue stripes on the side - thick and thin stripes next to each other which provided a lovely pattern especially if it was to be seen on a smaller item. 

You can find two for sale on Ebay now

I was expecting the project to take an hour because the concept was simple:


  • To cut out two squares out of the blanket with the same pattern (55 x 55 cm for a 50 x 50 cm cushion)
  • Sew an invisible zip on the side (the one with the blanket stitch that ran around the whole blanket),
  • Sew the two pieces together on the right side, 
  • Hand stitch, and have a blanket stitch outside the cushion cover as the fabric frays.  



So nothing special, except that the thickness of the blanket as well as how the fabric frayed made it rather difficult. My sewing machine played up whilst sewing the invisible zip. 

I used some lace yarn for the blue hand stitch

But I did get there in the end, and I really love it, so simple, but so stylish for the second bedroom - and well as the blanket cost £10.00 to start with, and I had all the other material needed.  


So I added a touch of warmth to the spare bedroom - just need to make the second one, hopefully I can use what I learnt for the first one, and make in less than 6 hours.. There's a challenge!

11 comments:

  1. Great project, Nat! I actually have a couple old wool blankets downstairs. The each have a few good sized holes, so I was saving them for "something" this could be just the something! Thanks for the idea!

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  2. great idea!!! i love the touch of hand stitching.

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  3. This would be nice and snuggly on a cold afternoon- perfect for a nana nap!

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  4. This pillow looks cool and cosy at the same time!
    (I read 'spare bedroom' and think -yay, a craft room!)

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  5. that's gorgeous! I love the simplicity of the stripes - perfect.

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  6. Ditti Charlotte's comment - that's me...I set out to make a quick project and it takes me most of the day!

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  7. This is a great idea.. so simple yet so effective.

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  8. Clever to upcycle unused blankets into pillows!

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