Flannel Shirt Pillow

Dad's flannel shirt

     I have had this flannel shirt since my dad died 15 years ago.  I wore it a few times but it is really too big.  I couldn't just throw it away so it hung in my sewing room for years.

Shirt back with Rowley's pillow template

     We had some water damage in our basement this past fall from the upstairs.  All the pillows and quilts on the couches got wet.  I was able to wash and dry all them them except one.  It was a pillow made from a sweater that someone had given me.  The sweater was ruined but the form was perfectly good.

Back all cut

    That is when I decided that the shirt would make a nice pillow.  After taking apart the shirt, I used my pillow template from Rowley to cut the back first.  I then cut two lining pieces and used one as the template to cut the front since it was hard to lay the plastic template on the shirt with the buttons and pockets.

Sewing the front closed

     On the old pillow the person had used the buttons to close around the form.  I believe there was too much stress on the buttons because they kept opening up.  I sewed the front opening closed and then put in a zipper in the back to insert the form.

Lining piece used as pattern for cutting the front

     I pinned my lining to the wrong side of the shirt front, trying to match the plaid on the sides to the back piece.  I then cut out the front.  I should have paid more attention to where I was cutting as I cut right through a button.  OOPS.  Better than hitting it with the serger knife I guess.  I serged the lining to the front and back pieces.  I made covered cord with some black bias that I had from a previous project.  I sewed the cord to the front piece and then sewed the two pieces together.  Pressed and turned right side out and now I have a nice comfy pillow that is a wonderful reminder of my dad.

Finished pillow

      I wish I could have placed the pockets lower but because of the armholes and collar I couldn't cut it any higher.  Still a fun pillow that looks great in my basement.