Button-Down Pillow
Make good use of dad's timeworn togs by
turning them into pillows. Choose striped, solid, or even checked shirts, and match them up to ties.
The following directions are for 18-inch-square pillows. You can easily vary them by attaching
matching or contrasting welting along the seam of each one.
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COLLARED SHIRT PILLOW PROJECT
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Tools & Materials
- freshly laundered man's button-down shirt
- yardstick
- straight pins
- sewing machine
- 18-inch-square pillow form
- necktie
- needle and thread
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1. Lay the buttoned shirt on a tabletop, and smooth down the fabric at the shoulders. Measure and mark points on the left and right shoulders that are each 9 1/2 inches from the center of the shirt. Measure 19 inches down from the points on the shoulders, and mark a second set of points. Using a yardstick as a straightedge, draw a line connecting the points on the left and right shoulders to the ones below. Connect the lower pair of points. Pin the shirt front to the back. Cut through both layers of fabric, using lines as a guide. (The shirt will stay intact along the shoulders.) From the remaining fabric, cut a 10-inch-square piece; set aside.
2. Remove the pins. Open out the fabric, and refold so that the shirt is inside out. Match the lower corners, and pin the front and back of the shirt together. Machine-stitch along the left and right sides 1/2 inch from the edges. Turn the shirt right side out. On all edges of the fabric square, press 1 inch of fabric to the underside.
3. Insert an 18-inch-square pillow form through the opening at the bottom of the shirt. Unbutton the collar, then place the necktie around the collar and knot it so that the wide end of the tie is 2 inches above the pillow's lower edge. Rebutton the collar, and place the 10-inch fabric square inside the collar, right side up, to cover the pillow form. Handstitch the square to the shirt at the base of the collar band, at the shoulders, and to the area under the collar.
4. Cut off the portion of the skinny end of the tie that extends below the fabric's lower edges. At the edges, turn the cut end of the tie and 1/2 inch of the fabric on the front and back to the inside, and pin. Handstitch the opening closed.
