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Hands Occupied

Colorful knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame from craft book author & designer Heidi Gustad.

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How-to: Awesomely Easy Living Room Accessories

July 6, 2011 Leave a Comment

It’s been just about two months since the hubs and I moved to Chicago from Lansing, MI. For most of that time, we’ve been doing a lot of … begrudging living in our living room. Brown wood floors, brown area rug, brown shelves, brown blinds, and a dark orange couch were the source of all of the begrudgery. I decided that some complementary, un-neutral colors were very much in order.

I found some nice fabric at JoAnn’s that was actually inspired by Colonial Williamsburg. This isn’t the exact fabric I used, but it’s close. Bonus: JoAnn’s had all home decor fabric 50% off this weekend. There were two ugly old pillows and a bit of foam lying around my craft room, so I thought I’d use them to create pillows and a bench cushion.

The go-to pattern I use when making pillows, dog beds, duvet covers, and basically anything rectangular and relatively flat is this: Measure your form’s length and width. Double each measurement and add 4-5 inches to ONE of the measurements and 1 inch to the other. Cut your fabric to this size. If you’ve got a 16×16″ pillow, you would cut a 36×33″ rectangle. The 4-5 inches allows your fabric to overlap and form a no-closure opening through which your pillow form (or other rectangular object) can fit inside the cover. The 1 inch provides seam allowance for the sides of the pillow. If you want a looser pillow or have a really fat pillow, you can always add more allowance to both measurements.

Sew a rolled hem along the shorter side of your fabric. Lay your hemmed fabric wrong side down on a work surface. Using your rectangular object/pillow form as a gauge, fold your fabric over like you’d fold a piece of paper before stuffing it in an envelope. Pin in place. If you cut your fabric with the selvage on one side, you can sew it so it’s hidden. Check out the pics to see how I used the selvage to my advantage. 

Sew along each side, and you’re done! Just turn the piece inside out and stuff your rectangular form inside it.  Seriously – memorize the pattern I used here, especially if you’re like me and not an experienced sewer. I was able to improve my blah living room in like 45 minutes. 

 

Filed Under: Home Decor, How-to Tagged With: colonial wiliamsburg, cushion, diy, foam, home decor, pattern, pets, Sewing

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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Yarn craft designer & author. Into intarsia knits, latch hook, color & vintage-modern style.
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If you look closely, you’ll see I’m casually k If you look closely, you’ll see I’m casually knitting from one sweater into another here, no big deal. (What can I say, I lost a game of yarn chicken. 😂) I almost didn’t post this because I was worried someone might have some nonsense to say about my ability to knit. Then I remembered I can’t care about that. Silly me, I almost forgot myself! 
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Speaking of which, dang it’s good to have my mental health back consistently after the past couple of years. The anxious parts of my personality are just chilling, rather than constantly screaming that my work isn’t good enough to share. The confident parts of me that matter have me creating (and starting to share my creations & process with strangers and friends) again! 
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Anybody else feel like they are beginning to return to themselves, so to speak, this spring?
I’m feeling better, & all my [big, bad bug] proj I’m feeling better, & all my [big, bad bug] project needs is a couple of short sleeves! I’ll be finishing this sweater *just* before it gets too warm to wear, but isn’t that always how it goes? 🫠🧶 
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Just divided the sleeves on this quick sweater, wh Just divided the sleeves on this quick sweater, which has unsurprisingly turned into a love letter to primary colors. ❤️💛💙 The heart stripe is a wee tweak I incorporated, and I don’t regret it! 
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I am unfortunately home bound for the near future I am unfortunately home bound for the near future thanks to the big, bad bug. So far I’ve knit half a sweater, consumed about a gallon of ginger tea, & plowed through 3 seasons of Pit Bulls and Parolees. 
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June doesn’t understand why I’m suddenly so boring, but she seems to like watching animal planet. 🤷🏼‍♀️
A bit of Saturday swatching. 🧶 I am working in A bit of Saturday swatching. 🧶 I am working in greyscale today to practice designing “without color”. Kinda cool, kinda weird. We’ll see if it yields anything interesting! 😆
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