Making Decorative Pillows with Recycled Materials

You can make throw pillows for just about any room without spending a bundle. There are several items you can use in your home that can be recycled. Forget about throwing away your old pillows and save them. You can use the stuffing from your old pillows and recycle them. Here are a few things to keep and recycle when making new throw pillows.

Old table cloths with cute patterns are excellent material to make throw pillows out of. You can use them for teenage bedrooms or country style living rooms. Another great idea is to keep old blue jeans. You can cut the back of the jeans out (the side with the back pockets) and make denim throw pillows. Old scarves or silk scarves make elegant pillows. How about using old vintage T Shirts? They can make unique pillows as well. These are just a few items that you can use that can be recycled. Keep your imagination open to anything you can use. You never know what you can come up with.

Once you decide what fabrics you can use there are still a few things you will need. You will need thread, sewing machine, old bed pillows (to recycle the batting), scissors, and pins. Next cut your fabric so that you have two pieces the same size. If you have smaller pieces, then sew the smaller pieces together. You can cut the smaller pieces into squares and sew them until you have two large separate pieces (like in patchwork). The two large pieces will be the front and back of your pillow.

Place the two like sides together (facing each other) and sew around three sides of the pillow with your sewing machine. This will leave one side open for you to stuff with batting. Once you have your three sides sewed together you will need to turn your fabric inside facing out. Make sure and get your old pillow and cut it open and remove the batting so that you can reuse it in your new pillow. Stuff your pillow creation with the remains of the old pillows. You can stuff the pillow with the recycled batting until it is as full as you want. Remember that it shouldn't be so full that it will be difficult to close or sew shut. Turn the sides of the fabric in and pin the opening closed. Using a sewing machine sew the fabric closed.

Other fabrics you can use and recycle are bandannas and curtains. Some fabric retailers have old fabric swatches that they end up throwing away. Some of the fabric in those can make excellent throw pillows. Adding old jewelry, buttons, ribbons, and other embellishments are other good ideas. Being creative and recycling your old materials into pillows can make excellent decorative items.

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