Upcyle That Old Dress Shirt Into an Accessory Pillow Cover.
4 Materials
1 Hour
Medium
Most all of us have old dress shirts hanging in our closets. The man in the house no longer wears them, for whatever reason. You just hate to throw them away knowing that there's something you can do with them, other than use them for dust rags. As I stood looking at one of those shirts I decided that the body of the shirt could be used as pillow cover. In a recent post I showed you how make a wine tote with the sleeve of the shirt. Now I am going to show you how to make a pillow cover. This is also a great way to preserve a memory. You may have some old shirts that belonged to someone you love and have passed on. Using the shirts for pillow covers brings them out of the closet and puts those great memories into a good spot in your home.
Lay the shirt out on a flat surface. Find a pillow that will fit into the body of the shirt.
Next, unbutton the shirt and place the pillow inside of the shirt. Place the pocket of the shirt where it would be if actually being worn. Button the shirt and measure where you want cut off the the upper and lower part of the shirt. Cut off the sleeves.
Button the shirt and turn it inside out. Using your sewing machine stitch up the sides.
Turn the shirt right side out. Align the pocket where you want it to sit once you have completed sewing the sides. Keeping shirt buttoned slide the pillow and once again turn the shirt inside out. Sew the top and bottom. Reach inside the shirt, unbutton it and turn it right side out. Place the pillow in the shirt and button it. Additional regarding sewing the seams. I always straight stitch and then zigzag a stitch along the raw edge.
Here ya go. You have used and old shirt for a decorative purpose. You have preserved a memory. I will say that if you are using a tapered shirt rather than a full bodied shirt it can be a bit more challenging up at sleeve end of the shirt.
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3 of 11 comments
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I just recently lost a very close and dear uncle, and my mom still has some of my dads shirts, I'm going to make my uncles kids and gkids a memory shirt and my bro and my kids and gsons 1 also. Thanks for an amazing idea.
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I did this one time with a shirt that i took from a friend (the pattern was too big and so was he) so i made it into a "pillow" and called it a "stuffed shirt!!!!!!!
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