Graphic T-shirt Pillow

The Background behind this was that I had these old Graphic Tshirts, that I have - mysteriously enough - grown out of. As I still really liked the motives on them I wanted to find some way of reusing them. This tutorial is a fairly simple and you can knock out a few of them in an afternoon. The pillows I made were 30 by 30 cm; this might vary depending on the size of T-shirt you’re working with. I also used a sewing machine. Now, you can perfectly well make this by hand if you don’t have access to a machine, if just speeds the process up a lot.

What you’ll need for one Pillowcase is:

· One graphic Tshirt

· One inside pillow

First off: cut your Tshirt in half so it’s a little easier to work with. DO NOT CUT OFF THE SLEEVES! As I have based this off an existing pillow I could base the pattern off the pillowcase. If you don’t work off an existing pillowcase I would recommend drawing the measurements onto a piece of paper and work from that so you can move it around and see where you get the best cut. I shifted it around quite a bit to see what would look best while still making the most of the fabric available. The shirt I had needed to have a tiny bit of the sleeves in it in order to make the most of it, but I do assure you, you can’t make that out in the finished puffed out pillow.

Having now cut the front, let us move to the back, which will be comprised of two overlapping pieces, making the case detachable, but foregoing any closure. The main goal in making this an easy DIY is making the most of the already hemmed edges. So for the first part you will use the narrow(ish) left from the front of the tshirt, which just needs to be cut to size lengthwise. The second part will be cut from the back and is almost the size of the original pillowcase, but just a touch shorter on the hemmed side.

For assembly first lay down your front part with the motive facing you. Then take your small part of fabric and lay it down pretty side down. The cut edge should align with the top of the pillow. Now take your bigger piece and place it pretty side down as well. The hemmed edge should be facing the top as well but be pulled down enough to leave room for being sewn together. If that leaves a bit of overhang fabric on the bottom edge, you can just cut it off.

Then pin all of it together and sew it with a seam-allowance of about 1cm using a straight stitch. Once everything is sewn together, cut off the excess at the edges to make them fold a little more neatly.

Then turn it over. Stuff your pillow inside. Be proud of yourself.