I love weaving pillow cases. They are the perfect project for new techniques, especially for wobbly weavers like me. Today I share three new fulled pillow cases.
I have made three pillow cases before, all of which keep our backs comfy in the sofa. All of them have been firsts in some way, and they have taught me a lot about weaving, spinning for weaving, making proper joins and mending broken warp threads. Lots of broken warp threads.
The yarn in these three new ones, is commercial though. For no other reason than that I had the yarns. I bought a couple of kilos in different colours a few years ago at a final sale from a woman who was the first to import Shetland yarns to Sweden back in the 1980’s. I stored the skeins in my yarn cabinet and they were honestly mostly in the way.
Test weaves
When the idea of fulling weaves in a fulling mill took shape, my mind brought me back to the skeins stuffed in the cabinet. They were the perfect practice yarns for fulling. If I failed at the fulling process it wouldn’t be precious handspuns. I picked out three colours that contrasted enough against each other. To play with them I wove my three loose sett weaves with different dominating colours and different plaid patterns. The plan was to weave to full 50 x 50 centimeter pillow cases on my 60 centimeter rigid heddle loom, to match pillows we had in the sofa.
All three weaves fulled beautifully in the mill. I confess I was secretly bothered that these weaves in commercial yarns fulled better than my handspuns.
A simple design
The weaves fulled just a bit too much for the dimensions I had planned for, so I bought three 40 x 40 centimeter inner pillows instead, filled with wool of course. I decided on a simple envelope construction – I folded the weaves off-center and folded the remaining piece again to form a pocket to slide the pillow in and close around it. The unfinished edge had been fulled in the mill, and I kept it raw for a simple design element.
Buttons!
Even if the envelope solution did its job to hold the pillow in the case, I wanted a closure that was a little more secure, so I started looking at buttons. After some browsing for buttons in natural materials like bone, horn and wood, I found Maud Enerman who makes made-to-order wooden buttons. I sent her photos of my pillow cases and she was happy to make three sets of buttons, in juniper, plum and beech.
The buttons arrived this week and I read up on sewing buttonholes by hand and chose three different colours from my box of silk thread. To strengthen I tacked a small piece of cotton fabric to the back of both the buttonhole and the button. Cutting the hole was a bit scary, but neither buttonhole nor skin was injured.
Not one of the nine buttonholes turned out without wonkiness, but I guess it’s a learning curve. I do love the result, though, and want to dive into the sea of pillows every time I see them. When my husband and I meet in the sofa every evening at 9 pm sharp to watch a series (Ripley at the moment), I grab one for the back, one for the neck and one just to cuddle with while I hold his hand.
Happy spinning!
You can find me in several social media:
- This blog is my main channel. This is where I write weekly posts, mainly about spinning. Do subscribe!
- I share essay-style writing on Substack. Come and have a look!
- My youtube channel is where I release a lot of my videos. Subscribe to be sure not to miss anything!
- I have a facebook page where I link to all my blog posts, you are welcome to follow me there.
- I run an online spinning school, welcome to join a course! You can also check out my course page for courses in Sweden or to book me for a lecture.
- On Patreon you can get early access to new videos and other Patreon only benefits. The contributions from my patrons are an important way to cover the costs, time and energy I put into the videos and blog posts I create. You can read more about my Patreon page here.
- Follow me on Instagram. I announce new blog posts, share images from behind the scenes and post lots of woolliness.
- Read the book Knit (spin) Sweden! by Sara Wolf. I am a co-author and write in the fleece section about how I spin yarn from Swedish sheep breeds.
- I am writing a book! In the later half of 2025 Listen to the wool: A why-to guide for mindful spinning will be available. Read more about the book here.
- In all the social media I offer, you are more than welcome to contact me. Interacting with you helps me make better content. My private Facebook page, however, will remain private.
- I support Centro de textiles tradicionales del Cusco, a group of talented textile artists in Cusco, Peru who dedicate their work to the empowerment of weavers through the revitalization and sustainable practice of Peruvian ancestral textiles in the Cusco region. Please consider supporting their work by donating to their causes.
One Reply to “Fulled pillow cases”