Repurposing Pajamas into a Blanket and Pillow Set

I love sewing and many times, I would re-purpose my fabric if they were still usable. I have been known to buy pre-made curtains solely for the fabric. When R asked for a Super Mario Blanket and Pillow set for his birthday, I knew that I was in a sticky situation so I didn't make him any promises. Normally, that request would just require a trip to the fabric store. However, after searching for Super Mario fabric for the past two years in stores and online, I have concluded that it does not exist for the home buyer or I would have already bought it. What to do? Work with what you have or can get.

In my search for the fabric online, I found that they did indeed make Super Mario PJ's. Great! That would be a great gift to give as well so I went to the store to pick some up and then discovered that if I bought a large enough size, I might be able to de-stitch the fabric and re-purpose it into quilt squares for R's new blanket. The largest size I could find was a size 8 so I will have to make do with what I have and buy another solid fabric for the backing and edge. After an hour of taking apart the PJ's, I was left with pieces which I reshaped into quilt squares in order to sew back together again. I started with this:
and ended up with this:




I added the red fabric trim, not only for an additional detail, but also to make the blanket larger. The pillow was made with the pajama shirt. I simply cut off the collar and sleeve. I added a zipper in order to be able to remove it for washing. After finishing this project for R, E requested one for himself. Back to the fabric store for another set of PJ's. He'll have to wait for his birthday to get it though. Until then, his Mario personalized embroidered pillow I made for him will have to do. Look for that project in a future post.