By LISA HENSLEY
My mom makes these great blankies for kids: knit on one side, flannel on the other. They just get softer and snugglier the more you wash them. They don’t, however, last forever—especially when their owner picks up the unfortunate habit of chewing on them.
My older son’s blanket was rapidly disintegrating into shreds, but he still insisted on having it with him. Every time I washed it, it shredded a little more. Then I hit upon the idea of salvaging the little fabric that was left and turning it into a small pillow he could snuggle.
I simply cut the center section out of his blanket, and trimmed it to fit a pillow form. I cut another piece of fabric that I had on hand for the back of the pillow, sewed them together (leaving an opening through which to stuff the pillow), crammed in the pillow form and closed up the opening by hand. Viola! My big kid now has a pillow that is every bit as soft and snuggly as his blanket was. The bonus here: he can take this pillow to sleepovers and no one will know it’s really his blankie.
If you don’t have fabric on hand for the back of the pillow, you could use an old T-shirt, a dish or bath towel, a flannel shirt or another blanket. Instead of a pillow form, you could stuff the pillow with feathers from a down pillow or a folded old towel, or you could just make it the size of a standard pillowcase and slip it over any pillow you have on hand.
Have you tried similar Re-Use It projects? I’d love to hear about them! Scroll down to the “Comments” box and leave your ideas.
Like this ‘Reuse It’ blog post by Lisa Hensley? Then chances are you’ll also like Going Green Missoula Recycling page, or other Re-Use It blogs: Building an Urbanite Retaining Wall or Creating Crafty Crayons or Heirloom Seeds.
Click here to see Lisa Hensley’s Reuse It Archive.
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Lisa Hensley is a mostly-native Montanan, living in Missoula with her husband, two young boys, two cats (boys), one tiny dog (a girl!) and 4 fish (probably boys). She spent more than 10 years in the Marketing and creative field, but is now Director of Household Operations for the Hensley group. When she’s not herding kids or doing laundry, she’s shooting photos, gardening, baking, reading or taking classes—sometimes all at once. She serves on the Board of Directors for Home ReSource, which fits in nicely with her tendency to repurpose pretty much anything.