03 December 2020

Pillow Talk



One of my friends lost her father earlier this year. Actually, a lot of my friends have lost a parent this year. This has been a hard year all the way around. That's one of the reasons it's so important to be kind, to spread smiles, to make the world a better place.

My friend asked how much I would charge to make pillow coverings from some of her dad's old shirts for pillows she would supply. She wants to give the pillows to her daughters for Christmas.

I did not know going into this project the shirts were T-shirts, but I told her I would do it as a Christmas present to her.

Not only did she leave on my doorstep some of the coolest pillow forms I've ever seen, but she also left a box of chocolates!!! I kind of like being paid in chocolate!

These pillow forms are pretty darned thin in their original wraps. Once you open them, they inflate!



I have no T-shirt stabilizer, and as slow as mail is going these days, I didn't want to order any. I also worried I might not have enough fabric to match the shirts once I saw how big the pillow forms inflated (22x22). I never got to meet my friend's dad, so I didn't know he was a big boy. I have plenty of T-shirt fabric to cover the fronts and backs of each pillow!




I cut a pattern from an old flannel sheet by tracing around one of the inflated pillows with a Sharpie then adding seam allowance and girth on all four sides. I had planned to make big hems on both back pieces of each of the pillow coverings for overlapping openings. As I was cutting the back from the first T-shirt, I realized I could use the shirt's hem for one back side, and then I'd need to put a hem in only one back piece instead of two.

Once I got the pattern figured out, the pillows went pretty quickly. I'm very happy to be done and ready to start working on a WIP quilt now! I hadn't touched my sewing machine in weeks, and oh, am I ready to roll now!















Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

5 comments :

  1. This is a lovely idea! My friend made a quilt of her husband's shirts two years ago. I stayed at her house while she was cutting and sewing. We talked a lot and shared memories.

    I am grateful that my parents are still alive and relatively healthy. A lot of my friends in their fifties and sixties have lost their partents already.

    Take care!

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  2. So sorry for your friend's loss. You were SEW sweet to make the pillows as a gift to her. They turned out great!

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  3. those are so amazing - they will be cherished by your friends family. how sweet of you to do this for her!

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  4. They turned out great! What a sweet memory for the recipients.

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