A friend of mine asked if I could make a pillow for her 12-year-old daughter who is heart broken over the recent loss of her grandfather. They were very close and she has a shirt that she cherishes from him. It has USMC on it. He was a Marine. It no longer fits her, and it would be great to turn it into a small pillow for her bed. Of course, I said I'd be happy to do it!
Finished T-shirt Pillow |
I had not tried this type of pillow before, so I did a little online searching to see how others have done it. I found this page to be very helpful. I tested their instructions with an old T-shirt of mine, and then this is my version of how I made this one:
This is a well-worn, youth size 10-12 t-shirt. I had a small 12"x12" square pillow in my stash, and thought it would work well for this project.
I laid my 12.5" square ruler over the tee shirt and centered it over the design. This design does not have much space underneath the collar, so I aligned the ruler right beneath the collar to use the limited space it has. The logo design would be a little above center on the pillow, but it would still work OK.
Use a water or air-soluble marker to mark your cutting lines around the ruler. I placed a small cutting mat inside the shirt to only cut the top layer with a rotary cutter.
I wanted to make this a lapped edge, slip-case pillow. Since the bottom edges of the t-shirt were already finished, I wanted to use them. I cut two separate pieces for the back of the pillow. The first piece was just the remaining material from the front of the t-shirt to the bottom edge. For the second piece, I measured up about 11". You normally need each piece to be about 2/3 the size of the square, to allow for an overlap, but since this small shirt didn't have much material for my first piece, I wanted as much as a I could for the second piece.
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The two pieces for the back of the pillow. |
Then, something unique about this t-shirt caught my eye. On the sleeve is a US Marine bulldog mascot. I wanted to use this image somehow, and noticed the sleeve was about the same size of the first piece of fabric I had cut for the back of the pillow.
US Marine bulldog mascot |
So I got out the seam ripper and took off one of the short sleeves.
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The two pieces for the back, plus one sleeve with the mascot. |
I trimmed the sleeve to be the largest rectangle I could make from it. I decided to use this piece instead of the first piece I cut for the back.
Lay the two pillow-back pieces on the table, right-side up with the finished overlap edges on the inside, and the raw cut edges facing the outside of the square.
Lay the pillow front layer on top, logo-side down so that the materials are right-sides together.
Pin the layers together.
Sew all around the edges. I used about a .5" seam.
Trim the corners and turn the pillow case out.
View of front. |
View of back with bulldog mascot. |
Slip the pillow form inside and you are done!
Front |
Back |
My friend said it is just perfect and it would make her daughter cry. She can't wait to get it. I am so happy this quick and easy project turned out so well!
Happy Stitching!
This is lovely, what a great way for your friends daughter to remember her granddad. I love the attention to detail you gave it. I tried something similar once but found the t shirt material twisted and puckered on me a bit- do you think I was just rushing things or do you have any great tips?
ReplyDeleteThat's a wonderful pillow, and I like the ingenious way you used the sleeve for the back flap. I'm sure the recipient will love it.
ReplyDeleteA great pillow! I've got a big pile of tshirts I want to make into a memory quilt - I WILL get around to it one day!
ReplyDeleteThis is perfect, I did the same with some of my Granny's handknitted cardis so I completely understand how much it will mean to your friend and their family. Just lovely x
ReplyDeleteThis is a lovely idea, I like envelope backs, so much easier than having to put a zip in :)
ReplyDeleteJan x
What a special keepsake and I love the way you incoorporated the sleeve. Pinning now.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet way for this girl to remember her grandfather! You're a good friend to do that! Thanks for sharing this with my Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop readers.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous way to make a special keepsake, I'm sure that the little girl will treasure it for many years.
ReplyDelete