Hi there, welcome to the lab.

I like to study trash and cast-off items to see if they can become functional again. I am happy to share my successes here with you. If you like to reuse, recycle and upcycle, I hope you will subscribe, so you don’t miss the next experiment. You never know what material I will be playing with next. In today’s project, I will show you how to repurpose men’s shirts into pillow covers.

Upcycling Men’s Button Down Shirts

This project is great for folks who are just learning how to sew. It is a simple, fast, and easy project that comes together in about a 1/2 an hour.

If you want to spend a little extra time, you can make it a more personalized item by using your creativity and imagination. For example, I personalized my pillow covers with a holiday theme using my Cricut cutting machine and some fabric paint. But there are many other ideas you could try, beading, applique, adding pom-poms or tassels. Or, if you want, you can leave them as they are and enjoy the cute button front and pocket.

This project allows you to quickly change the look of a chair, love seat, or couch.

Advertising Disclosure: Upcycle Design Lab may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services or your clicking on links posted on this website.

For this project, you will need

• Throw Pillow
• Men’s Button Down Shirt
• Tape Measure
• One Piece of Newspaper
• Black Sharpie
• Straight Pins
• Scissors for Paper and Fabric
• L square or Ruler
• Sewing Machine
• Thread
• Pinking Shears (optional)
• Iron (optional)

Step 1

First, measure the pillow from seam to seam. For square pillows, one measurement is all you need. If you are using a rectangular pillow, measure both lengths. Add 1 1/4 inches to both the width and height. For my 18″ square pillows, I made my pattern 19 1/4″ x 19 1/4.”

Step 2

Next, use the L-square or ruler and the sharpie to draw out the pattern on the piece of newspaper. Draw the shape to match your pillow, and don’t forget to add the seam allowances.

Step 3

Button the shirt and cut through the back layer of the shirt along the yoke seam. Flatten and smooth the two layers of the shirt.

Step 4

Once the shirt is smooth and flat, lay the newspaper pattern on the front of the shirt. Check placement before pinning the pattern down. Consider where the shirt’s pockets, buttons, and back will be on the finished pillow cover.

Step 5

Cut through both layers of the shirt around the paper pattern.

Step 6

After cutting, remove the pattern and flip both pieces so the right sides of the fabric are facing each other. Pin the edges together.

Step 7

To assemble the pillow cover, you can start anywhere on your fabric. Sew all the way around, leaving a 5/8″ seam allowance.

Step 8

When you are finished sewing, use pinking shears to trim down the seam allowance, don’t worry if you don’t have pinking shears. You can use regular scissors to trim off the excess seam allowances. You should leave about a quarter of an inch from the seam to the cut edge. Unbutton and turn inside out. Press if desired.

Step 9

The final step is to insert the pillow and button the cover, and you are done!

Note:

You can also embellish these pillow covers if you are feeling extra creative.

I made one set with no embellishment and one hand-painted set for the holidays.

If you want more information on how I made these designs with my new Cricut Maker, you can check out my last post here.

I hope you enjoyed today’s quick little project on how to repurpose men’s shirts into pillow covers. Thanks for stopping by. If you would like more details and instructions, please watch the video tutorial below.

Happy Upcycling,

Advertising Disclosure: Upcycle Design Lab may be compensated in exchange for featured placement of certain sponsored products and services or your clicking on links posted on this website.