Sweater to Slip Cover Upcycle

One of my New Year's ReSewlutions was to do more sewing for my home.  We are a month into 2014, and I have one little project to prove I'm moving in the right direction (progress is progress right).

I've had this chunky cable knit sweater in my refashion pile for quite some time.  I finally chopped it up, and turned it into something pretty, a new pillow slip cover for my couch.

Because it was a button up sweater, all I had to do was cut out my material, which proved to be the most difficult part, and then sew four straight lines.

I chopped off the hood, and the arms of the sweater, trying to save as much of the fabric as possible.

 I then cut my material into a square that was roughly the size of my pillow form.  I would have loved to have the buttons offset on my slip cover, but I didn't have enough material to work with.

I turned the material so that the right sides were facing, stitched around all four sides, and then finished off my edges.  With this chunky knit, the stitches unraveled quickly, so I really had to make sure that I caught all of the secure material in my seam allowance.

 I love the open weave of the sweater slipcover, and the wood buttons have a certain amount of charm.

One little step in the right direction.  

My two year old thinks that this project is absurd, and continues to try to undress my pillow.  At least he is getting plenty of practice learning to button and button something.

Rocket Ship Applique - Accuquilt Go! Baby Tutorial

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I am now part of the Accuquilt Go! Blogger incentive program.  Accuquilt contacted me, and asked me to both review their new Accuquilt Go! Baby fabric cutter and dies, and  also share some tutorials with my readers.  I very willingly accepted their offer.

I must say when I first heard from them I was thinking "hmmm...do they know that I've only made a couple of quilts in my lifetime".  I soon discovered that the Go! baby is very versatile, and can help streamline any type of sewing or craft related projects, it is NOT just for quilters.

My Go! baby fabric cutter is lightweight, portable, and extremely compact.  I especially love the fact that it is compact.  I have a small sewing area, and I don't have a lot of extra room to store my "toys".  Clark even refers to it as my "small machine".  One of the things that Accuquilt says about their products is that they are easy to use and very friendly to quilters/crafters that suffer from arthritis or other joint pain that prevents them from enjoying their crafts.  The Go! baby really cuts with ease, and Clark likes to help me by turning the handle as we cut out shapes. 

Not only is it easy to use, but it does everything that it says it will do.  I have used it to cut multiple layers of fabric, felt, and even faux leather (projects coming soon).  So as I'm sure you've gathered, I am very much in love with my new Go! baby fabric cutter, and would recommend it to any and all of you. September is the perfect time to start dropping hints about your holiday wish list.

Click on the badge above to get 22 free project patterns, just for subscribing by e-mail.  Even if you don't have one of their cutting machines yet, these projects are sure to provide you with some inspiration.

Now on with the tutorial.  For this Rocket Ship Applique tutorial, I used my Accuquilt Go! Half Square-4" Finished Triangle die.  When I was selecting my dies I knew that this would be a very versatile die.  Have you seen all of the fantastic chevron quilts out there?  If you haven't there are several tutorials done by Accuquilt bloggers that feature this same die.  I wanted to show the versatility of this die, and focus on the fact that you don't have to be a quilter to use this cutting system.

Go! Half Square-4" Finished Triangle

As you can see the die features clipped corners, and features quarter inch seam allowances.  It really takes so much of the work out of cutting.

Keep reading for the full tutorial on this fun and more dimensional rocket ship applique.