This project is great because it’s super easy and really cheap. It’s so easy that it doesn’t really require a tutorial, but I made one anyway just because I love tutorials (and I remember what it was like when I was learning to do artsy things and I know a lot of seemingly self-explanatory tutorials were very helpful). So T-shirt pillows were invented in my classroom 2 years ago when most of my students forgot their rest-time pillow on a regular basis. Many of the pillows stayed in my classroom, but some went home to sit on their beds or couches to display the fine art work of the little learners. This time, I am making them as a fun get-to-know-you activity for the kids I will be babysitting.
Things you will need:
Plain white t-shirt (I used Fruit of the Loom size ‘Small’)
Filling (I used poly-Fil)
Glue gun
A couple pins (not required but will make things a little easier)
Decorating supplies (Ribbon, fabric markers, sequences – anything you want)
Step 1:
Lay your shirt flat on your work surface. You don’t need to iron because the shirt will be so stretched out that it won’t matter.
Step 2: The front collar will hang below the back collar. Pull it up and glue the middle together. (See the picture below.)
Step 3:
Glue the rest of the collar and the two sleeves.
Step 4:
You will want to get a fist-full of your filling and stuff it into each sleeve before you stuff anywhere else. At this point, use more than you think you will need.
Step 5:
Fill the rest of the pillow and then pin the bottom. If it doesn’t look how you would like, unpin it and add more/less.
Step 6:
Starting in the middle, glue the bottom and remove the pins as you go.
Voila, you’re all done. Add kids and decorate. If you have older kids, you could even share these directions with them and let them make it themselves -- and, of course, if you know your way around a sewing machine you could turn it inside out and sew the openings then turn it and top stitch on the right side (but then it wouldn't be no-sew!).
Here is the t-shirt pillow my kids helped me make in our classroom).
