On the needles: a little pillow...

Jimmy needed a little pillow for naptime at daycare, so after finding out that 10x8 inches was about the size that would fit their beds, I arranged to borrow our neighbours sewing machine and set to work. I may have already talked about it, but I wanted to share some more details about it (and I now regret not taking more "in progress" photos).

I wanted the pillow to be special. I used some red bunting fabric that I had bought a while back, and had already turned most of it into a pillowcase for a regular sized pillow - for Jimmy, of course. So, using the leftover fabric made perfect sense. Only there wasn't enough of it. Enter an old white cotton shirt.

I bought this shirt when I was in highschool, at a local opshop and probably paid less than $3 for it. It is 100% cotton and the cotton is lovely. The shirt is so old... I've had to cut the collar off, replaced one button and repaired the shirt area around another, and just had to deal with a work-related stain that slowly faded. And then I work it in the pool and it ended up with awful discolouration and that was that.

But I just couldn't throw it away. No chance. The fabric was still in good condition (except around the cuffs, oh well), so I was hoping that I would be able to put it to good use before we left Manhattan, KS, otherwise it would be binned (sad face). It was still hanging in the wardrobe after its replacement arrived. The fabric of the replacement is no match, in terms of quality, but the cut is about the same... anyway... I used the fabric for the pillow and the pillowcase and, to me, it makes Jimmy's naptime pillow all the more special.

I'm so happy with the end result. So is Jimmy, although he is too young to appreciate the two pockets on the same side as the opening, but he will. He saw me making parts of it, most of it even, and I made a fuss about it, and made sure he knew that I was making it just for him. A special little pillow, for naps away from home, made from things at home. He's napping at daycare, and hugging it too, so I think my plan worked - my plan to give him something special, from me to him, that is just his, but with a little of something of mine too.