Monday, October 31, 2011

Tutorial / T-shirt Pillow (just because I found an old t-shirt)


I have been going through my house on and off for the last several months. To get rid of things I usually have a system... There are three piles, such as "Donate", "Sell", "Throw away". Any other place in the house is not hard to do this except in Mr. TRH and my closet.

I have a weakness for fabrics, and there is no exception when I am trying to get rid of some clothes. Even though an item hasn't been worn for such a long time, I start to think "uh, I can use this to make this" or "ah, I bet if I do this and this I can still wear it".

So, this is one of those projects that I just had to try and see. :)

I found this old t-shirt on Mr.TRH’s side of closet. It was in good condition, but he hadn’t worn it AT ALL for several years.



1. First cut it apart.


2. Cut 2 -- 15" X 22" rectangles for the pillow, and many 1" wide strips. If the t-shirt you have is smaller, you can cut smaller rectangles to make a smaller pillow.


3. On one of the rectangles, you can start "drawing". When you stretch the strips, they will curl up; I think this gives an interesting effect to the pillow. I didn't have any plans whatsoever, but I just eye balled the middle, and pinned the first strip and started to sew.



Keep drawing with strips...



4. After I did lots of "drawing" with strips, I made some ruffle strips to fill in some spaces. To make ruffles, sew in the middle of the strips with large stitches and pull one of the threads. Gather the fabric to make ruffles.




5. Put the front and back fabrics right sides together. Pin them and sew all around it with 1/4" seam. Make sure to leave 3" - 4" opening for turning.


7. Snip the corners for a neat finish.


8. Turn, press the edges with an iron. Stuff, slip stitch closed...and ta-da!


When the kids came home from school, Rachel noticed the pillow right away; the boys couldn’t care less about such minor details in life. I thought it was so funny to see the difference. Although, the pillow is loved by everyone, it is so soft and cuddly and perfect for a pillow fight. :)

36 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, how darling! I am dying to make your "She Wears Flowers" cardigan (just bought the cardi this weekend on clearance) but I'm afraid to dive in--making this cute pillow seems like an excellent warm-up project!

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  2. So pretty! I think it's cool you make the strips kind of architectural and symmetrical.

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  3. That is pretty cute! And knit would be a good cuddly pillow too...May have to find some old tshirts! :)

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  4. What a great looking pillow. So glad you posted this as I need to refresh/redo my pillows and, Hurray!, I have the perfect T-shirt in the giveaway pile.

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  5. It's amazing all the ways people are figuring out how to recycle old t-shirts...I mean come on who doesn't have old t-shirts!? Also thanks for the explanation on the ruffle...I've seen them and really like them and what do you know...easy peasy!

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  6. It's gorgeous! I almost wouldn't have guessed that it was made out of tshirts. Great work. :)

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  7. Oh my goodness! That is awesome! Have some "must do" projects today but then...on to this (will raid DH's stash of t's!). Thanks so much for sharing!! Doreen

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  8. You are so clever, what a creative way to use an old T-shirt. It's gorgeous!

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  9. The t-shirts live at least two lifes in your home, one as t-shirt and the other who knows it!
    Thanks for sharing it with us.
    Kisses, Mª José (majogonga)

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  10. Such a cute pillowcase! I love T-yarn and really love this way of recycling old T-shirts. I must try it :)

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  11. I love the true creativity that some people have (the rest of us follow patterns). How amazing that something so elegant and pretty came out of lets face it a dull boring t shirt. I am so impressed! It looks expensive.

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  12. Only a word for describe your work: Perfect.
    I love your ideas, you are a fastastic designer.

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  13. That is beautiful. I love a good pillow and nothing is more comfortable than an old T-shirt!

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  14. this is really great, nice work!

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  15. Love the final product. I think I am going to combine this idea with the slip cover pattern on creations by Kara. Love it.

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  16. Love your T Shirt cushion.
    Jill


    www.jilltextileart.com

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  17. I just cut up about 40 t-shirts to make quilts for my kids--but it leaves so much scrap fabric. I am going to try this! Thanks for the ideas!

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  18. I just cut up about 40 t-shirts, using the fronts to make quilts for my kids. Now I know how to use the rest of the t-shirts--this is going to be fun!

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  19. Everything you make is amazing. I am featuring this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com

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  20. Fantastic!
    Thank you for the clear directions with photos. Great work

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  21. this is so cute Sachiko! Don't know how I missed this, so happy someone featured it on their site today so I could stumble across it. Love it!

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  22. Can you tell me how you sewed on the strips? Bynhand or machine?

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  23. Kathy-

    I sewed them with my machine. :)

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  24. My sides won't curl...did i miss a step? :(

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