Review: Craft Challenge: Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Pillowcase (And a contest, too!)

Craft Challenge: Dozens of Ways to Repurpose a Pillowcase is the first book in a new re-crafting series from Lark Books. (Go, Lark!) The intro chapter talks about how this idea was influenced by the online craft community, and the way we create these creative challenges for ourselves. (So, given that I’ve been talking lately about building bridges between the online craft world and the mainstream, this is great.)

Pillowcases are a good place to start this sort of series, ripe as they are with creative possibility. And I’m very impressed with the range of projects this group of designers came up with.

Aren’t those pinafores on the cover cute? A great way to make use of an embroidered and edged vintage pillowcase. They’re designed by Stitchy McYarnpants.

Oh – and here’s another: Lee Ann Edwards‘ Layer Cake Apron. Adorable.

All of the projects in the book are fairly simple, straightforward sewing. There’s a basics chapter that covers all the tools and notions you’ll need, and instructions for all the sewing and embroidery techniques used in the projects. Everything is nicely illustrated and written in a friendly tone.

I’d say that this is a great book for seamsters who’ve had a little sewing experience – advanced beginners. While the instructions are certainly very beginner-friendly, there are a few techniques, like applying an edge binding, where the book instructions might have confused me if I hadn’t done it before.

That said, I picked up a few tips that were new to me, like measuring along a curve with a tape measure. (Turn it on its edge. BING! Why had that never occurred to me before?)

I like how different these projects are from pillowcase crafts I’ve seen online. Yes, there is a cute pillowcase skirt, and yes, several little-girl dresses. And then there’s this robe, by Joan K. Morris! It’s made from two king-size pillowcases, and the construction is ingeniously simple.

You’ll also find several great bag projects here. This one’s by Judi Music. And Cassi Griffin contributed a cute reversible design that has me kicking myself. I left a pair of perfect pink-and-orange vintage floral cases behind at Goodwill last week. Aarrrggghh.

There are several cute things for kids – my favorite being Stacy Dinkle’s superhero cape. Best use of a satin pillowcase ever.

I’m pretty crazy about this patchwork of vintage florals, too. Katie Trott designed these coasters. And now I want a quilt.

So, just to give you a snapshot, you’ll also find pillowcases turned into pajama pants, cuff bracelets, a trivet, a dog bed, lampshades, a softie, a reverse-appliqued scarf, a reversible sun hat, a TV remote caddy, and (I kid you not) an ironing board cover. Among other things.

(In the interest of thoroughness, I want to mention that for this lovely crocheted bowl by Jennifer Thoma, if you’ve never crocheted before, you might want to find a basic tutorial online to help you master single crochet before you dive into this project.)

Lark’s Pillowcase Challenge:

If you want to get into the pillowcase act, Lark is celebrating the release of this book with a pillowcase contest. Three winners will receive a copy of this very book, plus nine other Lark crafty titles. Woo! You can get all the details over here. And the deadline to enter is April 30th.

Tagged as: craft book, crochet, fabric, review, sewing