HOW TO Turn a dress shirt into a pillow sham

Here’s my first video tutorial! In it I show you a quick and super easy way to give your well-loved button-up shirt a second life as a comfy throw pillow. I hope you like it. Now go make some throw pillows!

Supplies

  • dress shirt
  • pillow or pillow insert (should be slightly smaller than your shirt)
  • scissors
  • pencil or chalk
  • pins
  • sewing machine or sewing needle
  • thread

Instructions

  1. Button up shirt around your pillow
  2. Position your pillow on the shirt
  3. Mark up your shirt
  4. Pin your shirt and cut out the sham
  5. Sew all the open edges
  6. Finally, unpin, unbutton, stuff the sham, and rebutton the sham

Useful tips

  • You can also use women’s blouses. Try large, bright prints and different fabrics that can complement your specific decor.
  • Bey, an artist from Barcelona, says the button side of the pillow may be a little uncomfortable, but all you have to do is turn the pillow over. The buttons make it easy to change the cover whenever you want.
I made a colorful pillow from a woman’s silk blouse.
I snuggled two of my pillows together on the couch next to my Sefte throw.
If you saw me one The Nate Berkus Show and you’re wondering how to make the patterns, sit tight. I’ll be posting a tutorial on design techniques you can use to come up with original patterns of your own, and show you how to render them on the pillows.
Check back for the tutorial.
A gingham shirt pillow made by Bey includes a charming patch.

Leave a Reply to kellie Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

44 thoughts on “HOW TO Turn a dress shirt into a pillow sham”

    1. Hi Kellie! I’m so glad you like it. I hope the video inspired you to make some new pillow with old shirts. Thanks for stopping by to watch the video and say hello!

  1. This is such a creative idea. I recently moved to the coast and my throw pillows do not match my new coastal decor. I’m heading to the goodwill to find some shirts in blues, tans and beige tones. Hopefully some stirpes too !! I may even try to use the sleeves to make ruffles for the back of the shirt for another look. Absolutely LOVE this idea, $2 for a brand new pillow, Amazing, Thank You again !!

    1. I love coastal decor! Ruffles with the sleeves? Now that’s creative! If you don’t find stripes you can use white shirts and then painting stripes on them or find a blue shirt and use a bleach pen to make white stripes. 😀 I’m so excite about your new decor and your awesome pillows. Please send me pictures! Thanks for visiting and taking the time to write, LeDean.

    1. Hi Minerva, I’m so glad you like the tutorial. Thanks so much for visiting my blog and taking the time to write. I’m making some changes so I can put up post more regularly. Again, thanks so much for you support. I am truly truly grateful!

Scroll to Top