New life for an old Disney sweatshirt

For years I’ve had a very cute Disney sweatshirt featuring a befuddled Tigger stashed in the back of a closet. The truth is it never quite fit me right, but I couldn’t bear to part with it.

Come on: Look at that face! Could you just give him away? Of course not.

It struck me that it would be pretty easy to turn this sweatshirt into a super cute pillow. I had moments of skepticism while I was sewing, but I’m really happy with the result:

All it takes is the barest sewing skill. Here’s how I did it:

• 1 old sweatshirt (or t-shirt)
• 1 pillow insert
• Straight pins
• Thread and needle

Instructions


Step 1: I took the sweatshirt to a craft store to find the right-sized pillow insert. I’m sure I looked weird stuffing pillows up a sweatshirt in the store, but it was worth it.

Step 2: As I was fitting the insert, I realized I could make a bigger pillow out of the sweatshirt if I kept the neck hole at the top. Plus: It would be easier to make use of the existing shoulder seams. So my next step was to cut off one sleeve and sew a piece of the material under the neck hole. (I did all the sewing by hand.) The stitches are easily hidden in the neck seam.

Step 3: I stuffed the pillow into the sweatshirt and pinned it close to the pillow form. Then I cut away the excess fabric, leaving a couple of inches outside the pins, just to be on the safe side.

Step 4: I took out the pins and turned what was now a pillow cover inside out and pinned it again. Then I pulled out the pillow insert (so I wouldn’t risk accidentally stitching through the pillow).

Step 5: Using a simple straight stitch, I sewed just outside the pins down both sides of the pillow, starting at the old shoulder seams. I cut off the excess material, leaving less than an inch on either side. (I have a sewing machine, but it seemed like it would take me longer to set the thing up than it would to sew two simple seams by hand.)

Step 6: I turned the pillow cover right-side-out again and put the pillow insert back into the cover. Then I folded the edges into the pillow and closed it with a slip stitch (again: very simple).