From Hens to Hems

It's a balmy 34 degrees this morning, the big girls are busily exploring the yard where the snow has finally melted. Before I left them, Betty and Poppy were roosting contentedly in the sun outside the coop door, Pearl was having some yogurt, and Mabel, Miss Curiosity, was pecking at and eating some foam insulation (why?). I removed it, and she looked at me as if I'd taken a toy away, then hopped out of the coop and went to work finding the quinoa I'd scattered in the run.

Pants with potential.

Harmony. Life is good in the coop right now. But there's not much for me to do outside, and I felt a little like a mom whose preschoolers have jumped into play at daycare: like a fifth wheel. I headed back into the house.

Although I've been writing heavily on the "Coop" side of this blog, I decided that today would be a good day to wander over to the "Cottage" side. My knitting, sewing, baking, and painting have been largely ignored lately. But, this is the time of year where I feel compelled to finish UFOs (unfinished objects) before the new year arrives. Out with the old, in with the new, and all that.

A leg with potential.

One project that has been sitting in the "to do" stack since last spring: Giving a pair of pants a new purpose in life. I'd found them at our local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. They were really nice wide-legged linen pants with an embellished hem, and they were languishing away because of what looked like a bleach stain high on one leg.

For the bargain price of $1.50, I took them home and cut them up.

Since we're on the subject of pants, I should mention here that I am a seat-of-my-pants sewer. Apologies to any real sewers out there (Amy, I hope you're not reading my blog today). I get a little impatient with patterns, precision, and measuring. This is why I don't sew clothes. But... repurposing, I like that. In this case most of the sewing and measuring has been done. All I have to do is redirect the item a little bit. And I am pretty good with scissors and straight line seams.

So. I had a bare pillow form that was, in another life, wrapped in flannel as a camp pillow. But it had been stored away, unused. So I pulled it out, stuffed it in a pant leg, and Bob's your uncle, a pillowcase is born. I just had to cut the leg off and stitch it closed.

Voilà. From UFO to cute pillowcase. In minutes. Here it is:

A pillow with potential.

Except, now I'm looking at it and thinking it's a bit plain, n'est pas?  I think it needs a little embroidery. Maybe. Just a bit in one corner? Back to being a UFO in a flash.