I have a few questions for you:

Do you purchase many items on-line? Do receive several cardboard boxes and padded envelopes each week? Does it bother you that the padded envelopes cannot be recycled with your usual recyclables?

Well, we buy many things on-line and receive several padded envelopes each week and it bothers me quite a bit that I can’t recycle them. All that plastic goes in the landfill to never breakdown and makes for mountains of waste from millions of homes all across the world. I also can’t bring myself to throw any of these padded envelopes away.

I come from a family of savers and recyclers which also means I come from a long line of crafty, creative and clever women who know how to be thrifty and resourceful with what they have on hand.

So . . . .in keeping with the family traditions and practices, I came up with this new design to re-purpose some of our Amazon packages and put them to good use! By stacking and packing a bunch of the envelopes together, they make a great solid base for a floor pillow that, so far, the whole family loves, including our little Sadie (see photos below).

This project uses thick yarn and simple stitches – a great combination for success! And to help you be successful I’ve created a video tutorial to show you all steps of this project: gathering supplies, creating the base, crocheting the pillow and having fun with the fringe.

(Btw, don’t you just LOVE this fringe?! It was fun to see it work up around the edge and I even came up with my own version of how to make it quicker and easier than I originally learned – you’ll see that too in the video tutorial that you can watch right here!)

Skill Level: Easy

Measurements:

34″ long x 23″ wide (not including fringe)

Fringe = 2 1/2″ long

Supplies:

(Click on the affiliate links in green to purchase)

Bernat Blanket yarn (Super Bulky) in Colors:

Blue Velvet (Light Blue, Top Piece) – 2 skeins

Lapis (Dark blue, Back pieces and joining round) – 1 skein

North Sea (Variegated blues, Fringe edging) – 1 skein

**These colors are from the “Coastal Collection”**

L/11/8mm crochet hook

Used padded envelopes (20-40)

Plastic garbage bag (27″ l  x 23″ w ) and packing tape

Decorator foam or egg crate mattress pad (30″w x 51″ l)

Cotton fabric & sewing supplies or safety pins (optional)

Special Stitches:

Tr (treble): YO twice, insert hook into st, YO, draw up a loop, (YO, pull through 2 loops on hook) 3 times

Topstitch: Put starting loop on hook; At bottom of crocheted fabric but just over bottom edge, insert hook into project; [YO on back side of fabric with working yarn; pull a loop through the project and through the loop on your hook; insert hook into next space in project] Repeat across project/fabric

Twisted Fringe: [Sc into next st; * pull out working loop so about 8” long; twist loop 20 times with hook; fold this twisted loop in half and let fibers go – twisted yarn should automatically twist up more on itself; sl st into center of sc just made] Repeat around project

Instructions:

Top Piece

With Blue Velvet ch 50

Row 1 (Wrong Side): Sc in 2^nd ch from hook and in each ch across. Turn. (49 sc)

Row 2 (Right Side):  Ch 1, sc in next 6 sts; ch 1, sk next st; [sc in next 11 sts; ch 1, sk next st] 3 times; sc in last 6 sts. Turn. (4 ch-1 sps)

Row 3 (Wrong Side):  Ch 1, sc in each st and in each ch-1 sp across. Turn.

Row 4 (Right Side): Ch 1, sc in next 4 sts; [*tr in skipped st 2 rows below (under ch-1 sp); sk next st (on current row),  sc in next st, ch 1, sk next st, sc in next st, tr in same skipped st 2 rows below (completes the “V”), sk next st (on current row); *  sc in each of next 7 sts] 3 times; Repeat * to * 1 time; sc in last 4 sts. Turn. (4 “V’s”)

Rows 5 – 69: Repeat Rows 3 and 4 – 32 times (33 “V’s”) Fasten off.

Topstitching:

With Lapis work Top Stitch (see Special Stitches) in between columns of “V’s” using photo as a guide

Weave in ends

Back Pieces – Make 2:

With Lapis ch 47

Row 1:  Dc in 3^rd ch from hook and in each st across. Turn. (45 dc)

Row 2:  Ch 2, dc in each st across.

Rows 3-21: Repeat Row 2 -19 times. Fasten off.

Assembly:

Clip or pin wrong sides together of Top piece and 2 Back pieces according to diagram. With Lapis and with Top Right Side facing, sc around entire edge making sure to insert hook through all layers. Fasten off.

Edging:

With North Sea join with a sc in any st along edge just created by joining all pieces with Lapis color; Work Twisted Fringe (see Special Stitches) around entire edge (starting at the * for just the first fringe stitch – then repeat the entire stitching inside the [ ])

Finishing:

Make Pillow Form/Base:

Insert 20 to 40 used padded envelopes into a plastic garbage bag making sure thickness is even across (3-4″)

Seal with packing tape

Wrap in a layer of decorator foam

Cover with cotton fabric or an old sheet – sew or pin in place

Insert base into crocheted project

And there you have it – Your Recycle Crochet Floor Pillow is complete!

I hope you enjoyed making this project – Please send us a photo of your completed project to [email protected]. We love to see what you make from our patterns!

Did you know Celtic Knot Crochet is on Youtube and Instagram? Click on each word to see us there and make sure to follow/subscribe!

Jennifer

Here is an image for your Pinterest boards:

More recycling projects below – just click on the image to be taken to the pattern!

Copyright 2020 – Jennifer E Ryan, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher but please do link to this page to share this pattern with others.

If you wish to make items for sale from this pattern, please see our About page for details.