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  • WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 10 2010 11:05 PM

Doing It With Jensen: Rockin’ No-Sew T-Shirt Pillows

Tags: Blog, DIY

by Jensen

Hey guys! I’m really sad to tell you this, but I’ve been super busy with school and I feel like this is the right decision. I, Tara, will no longer be writing for the SG Blog. My identical twin sister Jensen will be taking over the “Doing it With” column from now on! It will work out fine. We live together. She is also really into crafty DIY stuff, and we even have matching tattoos. It will basically be like it’s the same person! Take care. Tara*

Okay, so this week I’ll show you how to take an old T-shirt and make it into a cool looking pillow. It’s very simple, the only things involved are cutting, folding, and ironing.



What You’ll Need


  • An iron

  • An old throw pillow. I purchased one at a thrift store and it had a tag on it that said it was sanitized and looked very official (new law?). Even if it has a tag like that, I’d throw it in the washer with some bleach.

  • No-sew “Stitch Witchery” fabric bonding web. This is what it looks like, though you may find it under a different name. (If you did my smutty sister’s Titty Shot flask project you already have this!)

  • An old T-shirt. In a perfect world, the shirt would fit snuggly onto the pillow. If you can’t find one that fits perfectly, just try to get it as close as possible. I’m going to go on the record and say that this shirt would make an amazing pillow.

  • Scissors








1. Lay your shirt out and cut the collar and tops of the sleeves off (see picture above). I opted to use an old shirt from an ex. It’s a bit poseresque, since I can only name one Led Zeppelin song off the top of my head. Oops!



2. Fold the top edges of the shirt over about an inch, then iron them down. Cut a piece of stitch witch long enough to go across the shirt, then place it between the folded layers of fabric. Press with an iron and steam until the Stitch Witch is melted.



3. Put the pillow into the shirt and see how it fits. If your shirt fits perfectly around the pillow, you’re a huge jerk and can skip the next step. If you’re like me, the shirt is too big and you have to take in the sides.



4. Take the pillow out of the shirt and follow step two (fold, Stitch Witch, iron) for each of the sides of the t-shirt. Try to get the shirt as fitted as possible (it can even be a little too small, since the jersey will stretch anyway). When you’re done with this step, the pillow should snuggly fit into the shirt. Every side is done except the bottom.



5. The bottom is the hardest part to seal, since you have to actually Stitch Witch it on the pillow. Fold the T-shirt up and inside of the pillow, like the picture above shows.



6. Place a strip of Stitch Witch between the layers and press with the iron. It’s a little bit harder to do with the pillow all up in your mix, but it works.





You’re done! Really simple and fun way to make some custom throw pillows :].

* Tara may be suffering from a sudden and spontaneous case of dissociative identity disorder. An alternate, and far less interesting theory, is that she had to change her name to Jensen when she officially became an SG. Commiserations and/or congratulations are in order depending on which hypothesis you choose to believe. If it’s the former, send your freshly Sticth Witched T-shirt pillows via the SG office to make Tara/Jensen’s padded cell more homely. If it’s the latter, leave your congratulatory comments here.

 

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Comments
mydogfarted

mydogfarted

Oakland, NJ
June 2003

NOV 11, 2010 07:25 AM

love
Oh, nice pillow too. tongue

Jensen

Jensen

SUICIDEGIRL

Texas, USA

NOV 11, 2010 08:11 AM

hahaha


(bigger pictures under spoiler)



Drama

Drama

Columbus, OH
January 2003

NOV 11, 2010 09:59 AM

Very nice. I'll miss Tara, but Jensen seems pretty cool as well. wink

merlowe

merlowe

HOPEFUL

Pittsburgh, PA

NOV 13, 2010 06:23 AM

What a cute and easy idea for all my old Tshirts..Spanx!

2low

2low

Etobicoke, ON
February 2005

NOV 13, 2010 07:10 AM

we did this with all my old worn out ass band tees. great way to keep them around to small or not.

Clio

Clio

SUICIDEGIRL

Netherlands

NOV 14, 2010 03:57 AM

I love this! adorable.

hor

hor

I'm lost
June 2005

NOV 14, 2010 04:29 AM


Repurposing old T-shirts is awesome! Which Led Zeppelin song?

Jensen

Jensen

SUICIDEGIRL

Texas, USA

NOV 14, 2010 08:12 AM

hor said:

Repurposing old T-shirts is awesome! Which Led Zeppelin song?



stairway to heaven, hahaha.

self-*facepalm*

hor

hor

I'm lost
June 2005

NOV 15, 2010 05:27 AM

Spid3y

Spid3y

Round Rock, TX
April 2008

NOV 15, 2010 01:14 PM

This is an awesome idea.

Are you able to remove the pillow and wash the shirt when you are done? Or is that stitch witch stuff pretty much permanent?

Jensen

Jensen

SUICIDEGIRL

Texas, USA

NOV 15, 2010 04:10 PM

It's permanent :x. What you could do though, I'd imagine, it just heat up the seams with an iron and pull it apart. Stitch witch is kind of like plastic-y fibers that melt together when heated, so I would think if you reheat them it wouldn't be difficult to pull apart. You'd have to put the pillow back together again with iron+stitchwitch though once it's washed.

mydogfarted

mydogfarted

Oakland, NJ
June 2003

NOV 15, 2010 04:15 PM

Jensen said:
It's permanent :x. What you could do though, I'd imagine, it just heat up the seams with an iron and pull it apart. Stitch witch is kind of like plastic-y fibers that melt together when heated, so I would think if you reheat them it wouldn't be difficult to pull apart. You'd have to put the pillow back together again with iron+stitchwitch though once it's washed.



You could always use iron on velcro

Jensen

Jensen

SUICIDEGIRL

Texas, USA

NOV 15, 2010 05:17 PM

Good idea, McCraftypants! I wish I had thought of that.

PRockGirlScout

PRockGirlScout

Portland, OR
October 2005

NOV 15, 2010 07:42 PM

Nice project. For me it is way easier to use the machine or even whipstitch by hand than have to do anything with an iron but it's cool to see projects for people who would rather avoid needle and thread.

Where did you get the lingerie you're wearing in these pics? It's such a cute set!

Jensen

Jensen

SUICIDEGIRL

Texas, USA

NOV 16, 2010 11:35 AM

I liked using the stitch witch because normally when I've done pillows I've always had a noticeable seam on one side from turning it out. But normally I'd rather just sew things also. I've been using stitchwitch on stuff for these blogs though because I'm *trying* to make them kind of dude-friendly, and I don't picture many single guys having a sewing machine, haha.

And thank you! It's by Blush. I got a ton of their stuff on ideeli because it was insanely cheap, but they ended up being surprisingly good quality smile.

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