Hey Y’all! Are you like me and hang on to old items from your kids? Like t-shirts? Well, you are not alone. Today, let me share with you what I did with some t-shirts from our youth group events. These are part of our youth room and have become both conversation pieces and great items to chill out with! These DIY Throw Pillows from Old T-shirts are easier to make than you may think and can be thrown right in the washer and dryer.
They are so incredibly soft and cozy. Depending on what size tshirt you have will determine how large of a pillow you can sew. These are standard 14 and 16 inch pillows, so that a ready made pillow form can fit right inside each one.
I used a simple envelope closure tutorial for each tshirt pillow. Because they are being used by teens in a common area, using an envelope closure allows the pillow forms to be removed and the covers to be washed often and easily.
If your tshirts are large enough, you can use the back of the tshirt as the back of the pillow and then the design is the front of the pillow. These were rather large so I was able to cut the design out as the front. I was then able to use the back {including the bottom hem } as the large piece of the back. I simply used the very bottom of the front {including the hem } as the small piece of the back.
Tips for Sewing With Tshirts
- Wash and dry the Tshirts before using them.
- Make sure you use a sewing machine needle designed for jersey/knit material.
- Make sure you use a stitch on your machine designed for stretchy { jersey/knit } material.
- Remember that Tshirt material stretches, so do not allow any extra room or your pillow cover will be loose on the pillow form.
These are such a hit in our youth room! I have been saving some from my own kids to create them again in our house soon.
Tshirts can make some really fun things. My daughter loved how cute her Pillowcase Tshirt Top turned out that she can wear to her little brother’s football games.
This one was super easy if you are comfortable sewing and is really fast to complete.
I also searched the best blogs for some awesome Tshirt Ideas for you to try. Be sure and check those out too.
So tell us, what have been your favorite tshirt projects? Have you used t-shirts in a project? Let us know!
Trish Flake
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Love yuyr t-shirt pocket pillows Bonnie. Great way to recycle those old shirts! I think old concert t-shirts would be fabulous to use for a teen or media room. Have a great weekend!
That is an awesome idea!! I’m working on making a quilt with all my daughters t-shirts, I never thought of making pillows. That would be so cute to have some tshirt pillows to put with the quilt!! 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing this!!
Cute idea! Thanks for sharing:)
Hi These t-shirt pillows are so darling. Coming over from Inspiration Monday Link Party. If you are around tomorrow we also have a Something to Talk About Link Party that goes live at 6 am est and I know our friends would love this. If you have time come join us and link up. Thank you, Lisa at Concord Cottage
These are great! I love a good t-shirt re-do!
I have saved many of our old t shirts (for years) with cool graphics thinking I would make something out of them one day…Thank you for the tutorial!