Hi everyone! Â It's Jann from Newton Custom Interiors again. Â Today, I'm going to share another cute pillow idea. Â I'll be showing you how to make a pillow out of a shirt – with some special added details!
Everyone knows how expensive fabric can be. Â That's what is so great about this type of pillow. Â You can use a shirt that you already have, or you can go to Goodwill, like I did, and find some great shirts to make your pillows. Â The added bonus is that the buttons and buttons holes on the front of the shirt make your closure. Â No need to hand-sew or insert a zipper to close your pillow!
I loved finding this bright pink men's shirt at my local Goodwill. Â I think I paid $3.00 for it. Â It was an XL, so there was a lot of fabric to work with.
Since the fabric was pink, I decided to use some of the extra fabric from the shirt to make fabric flowers for the front side of the pillow. Â I love how the flowers add a little whimsy to the pillow! Â I've included a video in the tutorial that shows how to easily make the flowers.
How To Make A Pillow Out Of A Shirt
Materials needed:
- Shirt
- Pillow form
- Thread
- Buttons
Instructions:
- Â Make a paper pattern that is the same size as your pillow form, and lay it on your shirt. Â My form was 12″ x 16″, so that's the size of my pattern. Â (I don't like to add in seam allowances when I make pillows – this makes for a snugger fitting pillow.)
- Cut out both layers of fabric. Â This will give you the front and back sides of your pillow.
- Cut out strips of fabric for your flowers. Â I had one large flower, and the strip of fabric was cut at 3″ x 21″. Â For the two smaller flowers, I cut my fabric strips at 2 1/4″ x 15″. Â Here's my video showing how to make the fabric flowers.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRMmGbi3giw]
- Hand-sew your flowers to the front side of your pillow fabric. Â Arranging them however you like.
- Hand-sew the buttons onto the centers of the flowers.
- Pin the front and back sides of the pillow fabrics together – right sides together.
- Sew around all four sides of the pillow fabric, using a 1/2″ seam allowance.
- Clip your corners, and turn the pillow cover right side out. Â Insert your pillow form, and button the closure.
I hope have enjoyed this pillow tutorial!
I've also made a shirt pillow in which the button closure is on the front of the pillow, instead of the back.

Hi! I'm Jann Newton, and I blog about home decor, sewing tutorials and DIY projects at Newton Custom Interiors.
Recently, I was asked to teach a class for Craftsy -Â Â Custom Bedding - Decorative Shams & Bolsters. Â So Sew Easy readers enjoy a discount on my class!
Fantastic! Next shirt I find, watch out!
this is such a great idea. love it. thanks for sharing.
I like this
so where is the collar? why did you not put that on?
SEW Awesome!! What a simple idea, thank you!
Thanks Chelle! I’m so glad that you liked this tutorial.