I’m not a crafty or artistic person, but there are certain times that an idea comes into my head that I cannot banish until I’ve completely worked it out.
Such was the case this week …
Aidan has a little throw pillow he sleeps with, but it presents a constant problem for me.
1. It’s ugly (originally an old decorative pillow from my bed that ended up being neither decorative nor functional, it adorned the top of the wardrobe ’til Aidan found use for it)
2. It doesn’t have an easily removeable / child-proof slip cover for cleaning.
Up until now, I’ve always covered it with the smallest sham cover I had (which was still 6-8 inches too big all around … and made it even MORE ugly) just so that I had something to cover it, remove, and wash. This week however, I had a the proverbial “light bulb”!
On my sewing desk, I have a couple badly ripped shirts of Bob’s just waiting to be repurposed. They’re ripped in the arms (my husband; the Incredible Hulk) so the torso/body of the shirt is completely intact. Not wanting to send my husband out to work like this … (not that Larry the Cable Guy doesn’t have his own unique style … I just don’t know if it would A) work on Bob, or B) work on Bob’s place of employment) …
…I decided that the shirt would make a great pillow cover.
I should warn you … I had no pattern, I measured no seams, and I don’t even think I cut in a straight line, so don’t look TOO closely. (actually, you can’t even if you wanted to because of the fuzzy/dark picture … oops … sorry)
*BEFORE*
Technical note: You may need to adjust the circumference of the torso, depending on the width of shirt and the size of your pillow.
*AFTER*
2nd Technical note: I made an executive decision (my favorite part about creating projects) to use the buttons to seal the cover and to leave the shirt in a very “shirt-like” (read: “authentic”) way even as a pillow case so that you can see part of a seam and a pocket:
Result? Aidan loves his old new “Daddy Pillow” and I finally have a good, removable, and washable cover! Added bonus: Aid always has something of his Dad’s very close to him. Repurposing? Check. Sentimental Value? Double Check.
The finished product: shown here with Charlie and “Didi” [pronounced “dih-dih”] … the other two items that never leave Aid’s side.
Final notes on the project: After over 24 hours of use, it has become apparent that having a pillow that buttons is also a really great way to teach your 2 year old how to button and un-button things (if they didn’t know already). Apparently, it’s also an excellent place to store trains. [True story: I found 3 small wooden trains and 4 pieces of track stuffed into it before his bedtime last night … now that would have made for a comfy sleep.]
Are you a repurposer of fabric? I have a whole stack of items I’m just itching to find a use for — let me know some of your best / most fun projects!