Nothing cures the shivers like a red sweater....

When I was out Christmas decoration shopping the other day I saw a store that was trying to sell a stocking made from a red sweater for $26.00! Unheard of in my book! The next day I went to the closest Goodwill and found some red sweaters with big buttons, cowl necks, and unique knitting stitches for $3.50 each. I turned them into the most adorable stockings and right now they are the only decoration up yet. I've never had a stocking before and am stoked to hang them. My family didn't do the whole 'Santa thing' when I was little. My hubby keeps teasing me that there really isn't going to come a fat man down our chimney to fill the cute little things up.

This is the story of what I did with the rest of my sweater.....
I was cleaning out my design studio and found an old "Shivers embroidery" that I did when I was still in high school. I decided he would look perfectly cozy wrapped up in a sweater. (Any embroidery that's cut down to 4" x 6" would work)

I cut 2 pieces about 2 1/2" x 6" and using a 3/8" seam I carefully sewed the piece to the top and bottom of the embroidered piece.

I pressed the seams towards the embroidery piece and topstitched on the fabric. I made the stitch length longer to blend better with the hand stitched embroidery.

Using the bottom ribbing of the sweater, I cut 2 pieces about 7" x 8". I sewed them on the left and right sides of the pillow top.

Press the seams toward the sweater ribbing. Using the same seam allowance, I topstitched on the sweater this time. The puffiness of the sweater created a look similar to having piping on either ege.

I didn't have enough sweater to use for the back and wanted something stiffer to pull straight any stretch that happened during the sewing so I used some brown felt left from this project. I pulled it evenly straight all around. It will curl a little when pinning but comes out fine in the end.

Pin the pieces right sides together. Stitch around the edge using a consistent seam allowance. I use 3/8 but some may be more comfortable with 5/8, as long as it is consistent.

Before turning right side out, clip the 45 degree seam allowance from all corners. The fabrics are quite bulky and this will result in a cleaner finish. 

After it is all turned right side out (make sure you poke the points out really well), start stuffing it with poly or fiber fill. Make sure it's not lumpy and evenly fluffed all over.

After it is all smooth and filled to perfection, fold up the open raw edges you left on the bottom, pin them together, and whipstitch. If you are short on time you can use the machine, but it's a cleaner finish when done by hand.

After making one, they are pretty much addictive! They turn out so soft, homey, and comforting. Especially here, where we got our first taste of winter last night, with an entire 6" of snow. Now I can just cuddle up all cozy with a huge mug of cocoa.