Upcycled Fabric popular Pig

This pig pillow was made from a commercial pattern of animal pillows, published circa 1980.

What I did that departs from the pattern as written is that I put a wire in the tail to make it curly and keep its shape. And instead of using a patterned fabric on the front, I sort of made a textile by sewing strips of recycled fabric, ribbon and trim in rows. All of the sewing is hand popular stitching. The stitching is tight, but some of the fabric is somewhat fragile so this pillow is not designed for heavy use, to be cleaned frequently, to be machine washed or dried, or to be used as a toy. It's strictly for decoration. Think of it as a piece of soft folk art. I have left some of the fabric edges raw as party of the design and the sources of the fabric vary greatly in age and in original use. That is why some of the strips are a bit fragile. The stripes should stay on, they are securely attached, but could unravel too much if the pillow is subjected to rough treatment. The cover is not removeable.

The back of the pillow is not decorated - it does have an ear and an eye, but it's solid upcycled upholstery fabric without applied stripes.

For size reference - wall tiles are 4.25 inches square, as shown in the third photo with the triangle. The pig is 16.5 inches long including the tail. It's roughly 10 inches tall from top of back to bottom of foot, and 3.5 inches thick.

All materials in this pig are upcycled, except for the filling which is brand-new polyfill from the fabric store.

Includes small parts that could come off, keep away from children. Not a toy. Handmade in the USA by Carolyn Hasenfratz Winkelmann.

If you would like to read about more of my hand sewing projects on my blog, here is a link:
http://www.chasenfratz.com/wp/category/fabric-and-fiber-arts/