Bolster Pillows

For a production of Macbeth I had a small budget and a lot to get. the show was set in 10th century Scotland and the director wanted to have all the actors leaning on fur covered bolster pillows. I started doing some research on pricing and in order to buy the bolster pillows and furs to cover it, would cost me upwards of $150. Instead of buying online I took pillows that were already in stock, rolled them and bound them with gaff tape. I then took stock fabric and sewed sleeves to slip over the rolled pillows to smooth the lines.
To get the furs I posted a wanted ad on freecycle and one on craigslist asking for old tattered or unwanted fur coats (I figured that with real fur going out of fashion people would have coats they no longer wore). From those two postings I received 10 fur coats from generous people around the city. I was able to cut them into organic looking shapes and tack them onto my bolster pillows with a curved upholstery needle. They ended up looking pretty good.

By the way, if you have never been on freecycle you should check it out at my.freecycle.org. Sign up for the group in your city and receive postings with items that people are wanting to get rid of and post items that you're looking for that others might want to throw away (and it always helps if you can give people a letter of donation from your organization for tax purposes)