Recycling wool blankets...

The upside of returning after Christmas and finding the airing cupboard contents soggy from a dripping boiler is finding all sorts of treasures I'd long forgotten about. Dog owners will know that old towels and old blankets need to be in plentiful supply. I always look out for a dog blanket box in the corner of charity shops. Our ladies in Age UK must have a number of dog lovers among them because they not only have a dog blanket box but also bowls, leads, collars, outfits... H and R wouldn't be seen dead in an 'outfit' unless of course it was a neoprene surfing suit which would really be quite practical given the number of hours in a day they spend submerged in cold water.

Anyway, back to the blankets. I unearthed two lovely wool blankets in cream, which I had previously bought for the dogs. I gave them a good shake and washed each on the wool setting which doesn't appear to have shrunk them at all. They were deemed far too good for the dogs and yet not quite big enough for our superkingsize bed. I had in mind various crafty projects but in the end I decided that our cushion collection was looking decidedly tatty and uncoordinated. Now, cushion making is not my favourite thing to do. I am not a whizz with all things textile, and I was once banned from sewing classes at school (I think I covered that in a previous post) but... I can now wind and thread a bobbin which is a pretty big achievement methinks.

We have a number of large cushion pads, some of which had lost their 'oomph' so I put two of those together inside some of the new covers. Shown above is the back view; I used that magic envelope type construction which requires no zips or buttons or ties of any sort. I was quite surprised my sewing machine went through so many layers of blanket.

I quite like them plain but they probably need embellishing in some way. I don't fancy the large appliqué shapes that are all over the place and I don't fancy anything crochet. I will wait until inspiration strikes. I have received a compliment of the rarest kind. It came from E who is not usually one to compliment anything or anyone. I quote, 'these are good'. Woah. I nearly fainted. Actually they've been a devil to photograph, they look so much better in real life. I made five altogether. Two each for the sofas and one for J's favourite tv watching armchair. They are very warm to lie back against.

A very thrifty project because they cost £2 per blanket (I used two) and I've got enough left over to make two more or perhaps make other things, like embellishments or a cat bed or several smaller cushions which perhaps I could dip dye... now there's an idea.