Fun (?) With Sewing

Fun is the operative word- it has yet to be determined if this is considered a fun activity. My first REAL project on the sewing machine was a relatively easy one (one I got the machine working- user error people. Gets me every time). T-shirt pillows are a GREAT starter project if you don't have a lot of sewing experience. This is more advanced than my previous t-shirt pillow project- Got Blood? I've done a few before, by hand, and that just takes a looooong time.
 

 Here's what you need:

-Sewing machine and needle/thread of appropriate color to your shirt

-An old Tshirt you just cant bring yourself to throw away

-Scissors

-Pillow insert of approximate size to your tshirt (Ikea has them for pretty cheap)

 

The t-shirt I chose was a Star Trek shirt that just fit weird and was a weird material (probably not the greatest for sewing).
Lets make it so!
I cut the sleeves off on either side along the seam. If you're shirt is a V-neck like mine you want to save those scraps! And before you do anything else you will need to hand sew a scrap into the v-neck so you don't have a weird hole in your pillow:

(inside out and finished with the hand sewing)

 

 

Keeping your tshirt turned inside out (or if you need to feel good about your progress- turn it right-side out and have a look- GOOD JOB YOU!), lay it on top of the pillow insert and use pins to mark the width. If your pillow insert is exactly as wide as your shirt, good for you. Now you just need to sew a straight line along either side of the pillow, like so:

(I didn't go alll the way down the sides of my shirt as my inset was not that long, I went just a little farther than the length of my pillow) 

 

On the bottom edge you DO NOT want to stitch all the way across with the machine otherwise you'll have an inside out non-tshirt-pillow pillow. No fun. Depending on how squishy your pillow insert is, sew far enough in on both sides to where you have a hole in the middle to stuff the sucker in. Once you think you've sewn far enough, carefully turn your shirt right side out again. Insert pillow and hand stitch closed.

 



TA DA- not the prettiest, but it works for me.

 

My t-shirt pillow is incredibly soft and squishy. It sits proudly on my sofa and I enjoy lounging on it often.

 

Tell me- have you made a tshirt pillow before? Any cool ideas or tips and tricks?