Monday, November 7, 2011

Men’s Shirt Christmas Pillows




I went to Goodwill a couple of weeks ago looking for some cable knit sweaters, so I could make some winterized and cozy pillows for our den. I didn’t see any sweaters that I really loved, but I did see these two button down shirts that screamed “make me into Christmas pillows!”! I had seen this tutorial on making pillow covers from men’s shirts, so I knew what I had to do. The shirts were $5 each; not a steal, but I thought they were worth a try. Doesn't that look like a Christmas plaid?

We have two of these pillows residing on our den couch that I wanted to use. They measure 20x20, but I made the pillow covers about 18x18 so they would fit snugly. I like the idea of being able to take the covers off once Christmas is over and not having a bulky pillow to store.

To make the pillow covers, keep the shirt buttoned and use a rotary cutter to slice through both the front and back of the shirt at the same time. For the first shirt, I cut through the side seams, and this was not the way to do it. It really goes a lot faster if you lay your shirt flat, lay your pillow on top and eyeball the size, then cut with your rotary cutter. Plaid shirts make it super easy to cut since you can just follow one of the lines with your rotary cutter. Make sure you pay attention to the pocket on the shirt (if it has one). I liked the little extra detail it gave the cover, so I left the pocket on and worked around it.

Once your pieces are cut, turn them right sides together and sew around all four sides using about a 1/2 inch seam allowance. I love that you can sew all four sides since the button down part of the shirt acts as your opening. No going back and hand stitching!
Isn’t it cute?! I love the extra detail that the buttons add to the pillow.

And guess what? These can be taken off and thrown in the washer! How awesome is that?!

Here they are looking all nice and cozy on our den couch.

I played around with a few different layouts of the pillows…

And decided that I liked the buttons facing out the best!

There are so many different possibilities when using button up shirts as pillow covers! Go raid your husband’s closet and turn those ugly shirts into cute pillow covers! I’ve got my eye on several of Ben’s shirts…


Beth


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21 comments:

Ashley said...

I love these! What a great (and cheapish) way to warm up a room for the holidays. I'm thinking I might hit up Goodwill on my way home today...

Judy Bisaya said...

oh my oh my! I have been thinking also of doing this to all unused plaid shirt of hubby. Thanks for sharing. I love it. Now, I know how it will look like.

Brooke @ Inside-Out Design said...

This is the cutest idea!!

Unknown said...

What a great idea...I'll definitely be trying this out and the colors and pattern you used are perfect for Christmas!

Justine of SewCountryChick said...

This is a nice tutorial! Another reason not to give my hubbys shirts away! I have a little sewing and fabric craft linky party I'm starting tomorrow and I was wondering if you could be so kind to stop by and post it? Thanks so much!
Sew Country Chick

Elena Galli said...

I was looking for some great ideas for some diy pillow covers...these are amazing! I'll try for sure. Thank you!

Unknown said...

really, really great idea!! Thanks for sharing.

Chris said...

I absolutely love this idea! Looks like I'm off to find some old shirts to use! Brilliant. Thanks for sharing!

Anne said...

I love these!

Irum said...

its really nice....
I like your blog... cute and sweet :)

have a great day.

Peggy said...

Wow! What a cute idea. Love it! Good use of my kids old shirts.

artistico said...

What a great idea I absolutely love it .. sometimes you can not imagine what caN YOU DO with simple things ... another great example :) thank you

wall art Decor

BeingBrook said...

So cute! I might try this for my son's room!

Anonymous said...

I went to the fabric store to get 1/2" batting but it's sold in ounce designation. What should I be buying?
Kathy

Anonymous said...

I went to the fabric store to get some 1/2" b atting but it's sold with ounce designation. What should I get?
Kathy

Kimberly T. said...

Those are so dang cute! Plus I love the fact that I can cover my existing pillows for Christmas and then just put the covers away, not the whole big pillow, like you said. Great idea!

trish said...

I love your pillows! :o)

large men's shirts said...

Great article....!!!Nice to know about new things with helping concept.

Unknown said...

I absolutely love this idea! Looks like I'm off to find some old shirts to use! Brilliant. Thanks for sharing!










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I found a really cool men's gift site called www.thegiftsformen.com

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