Let's Make a T-Shirt Pillow!

A few days ago, I spent the afternoon making a t-shirt pillow with my 4 year old son. He was actually quite impressed with the outcome and since I don't sew as much as I used to, he had lots of questions about the sewing machine and what pins were used for. LOL

These pillows can be made from any size t-shirt that's in good condition. We made two of these gems, and both were made from "too small" t-shirts that my boys loved. (What boy doesn't like camo?)

Here's how it's done...

Examine the shirt and make sure it is free of holes and/or stains.

Turn the shirt inside out and smooth out all wrinkles on a flat surface. Be sure to remove any tags that might get in the way.

Line up the sleeves and bottom hem and pin. You will be sewing these openings closed.

Sew across both sleeve openings and across the bottom. I used the stretch-stitch setting on my sewing machine since the fabric has some stretch to it.

Now that the sleeves and bottom are sewn, we need to make a "box seam". Take hold of one corner at the bottom. Line up the bottom seam you just made with the side seam. You will be forming a triangle with the fabric.

To make sure the seams are lined up, I always stick a pin thru the middle of each seam.

Smooth out the corner, remove the pin that you just put in the middle of the seams, pin and sew across the corner about an inch and a half away from the end point.

Trim off the excess leaving a 3/8 inch seam... or something close. Just don't trim it too close.

Do this on both sides of the bottom seam.

Now, turn the shirt right side out through the neck opening, making sure to push all the corners of the sleeves and bottom out.

Stuff the shirt with your favorite stuffing. I used polyester fiber stuffing. Be sure to fill it full to make a nice even pillow.

Now we'll pin the neck opening closed. This can be a little tricky if it's stuffed really full, but it's not hard to do. Take your time.

After pinning, I  sewed the opening closed by hand with a blind hem stitch, but you could also whip stitch it closed.

The outcome should look something like this...

These pillows are fun to make from all sorts of t-shirts and they're really comfy too. You could use school themed t-shirts, shirts from a vacation, or perhaps something your children have outgrown.

Have fun with it!
Deena Davis
www.ByYourHands.com