The thing about crochet, as opposed to knit, is getting a nice clear straight pattern is pretty near impossible, since the stitches form diagonal lines. This can be a good thing, sometimes, but when you’re trying to make a cat, well. That’s just not going to work.

However, there is an easy workaround. By crocheting a simple back and forth panel of single crochet, you can create a canvas for a cross stitch image of your choice. This can be done with any weight of yarn and made to any size, using any cross stitch pattern. I’ve included instructions for the cat pillow, but you could also cross stitch a hot air balloon, if you like. Just make sure that you’ve made enough stitches/rows to fit the number of stitches required by the cross stitch pattern.

[I was given a discount for the fabrics used in this post from Fat Quarter Shop, however all opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.]

I managed to surprise myself and finish the pillow covers for our family room makeover in just under two weeks. And it wasn’t the only project on my plate (or actually, my desk). I’m actually getting better at planning my sewing projects in a way that they actually get done. I used to wait until I knew I had a couple of free days to start and finish a sewing project, but I’ve realized that I can’t wait for vacation (or sick days, for that matter) if I want to get anything done. This time I split the project into several tasks (cutting, pressing, sewing etc.) and did each one on a separate night. I didn’t try to push the work too late (sleep is important!), and I got it all done in about 4 nights, without exausting myself entirely. I think that this worked well and I will continue working in the same way in the future. [Just a small pat on the back for me. Yey me!]

I decided to make the pillow covers using hook & loop tape (e.g. Velcro) closure for two reasons: 1 – I had a whole lot of it and 2 – I didn’t want to mess with the long zippers I would need for the floor pillows. I though about decorative buttons, but my experience with other pillow covers I made with buttons is that they don’t hold up very well under the wear and tear of children pulling at them. I have an excellent tip for sewing hook & loop tape later, so read on…

I’m never sure when we can officially declare “summer is here”. Even though I’ve been carelessly sunburned twice already (I should really be more careful), there have been many days when it was quite cloudy, or even worse – sand stormy (yuck!). Given that the weather hasn’t stabilized yet on “hot, humid and unbearable”, I have to check what the weather will be every day, so I can decide if it’s long pants or shorts for the kids. And there it was that inspiration struck me and I HAD to make a partly cloudy set of pillows.

As usual, I started with no specific recipient in mind, and my children took them over as soon as they possibly could. So I guess we’ll have another set of pillows to fill the kids’ beds (as if we don’t have enough junk dolls in there already).

In order to make the partly cloudy set you will need basic crochet-in-a-circle skills, so while making all the pieces might take a while, it shouldn’t be very difficult.