Ruffle Pillow
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Remember this cute ruffle pillow made from a t-shirt? Well, here is the tutorial. Enjoy!!
You’ll need:
- an XL t-shirt (or larger)
- rotary cutter, mat, and ruler
- fiber fill or some sort of stuffing
Step 1: lay t-shirt flat on cutting mat. Cut hem off bottom of t-shirt and straighten sides out (if needed).
Step 2: cut a 14×14 square through both layers of the t-shirt. These squares form the front and back of the pillow.
Step 3: trim off sleeves and use remaining t-shirt fabric to cut strips about 1 1/4 inch wide by 21 (or so) inches long.
Step 4: lay out strips on pillow top to determine how many ruffles you want. I wanted 10 for mine.
Step 5: set your machine to a really long stitch (called a basting stitch). Sew down the center of each strip, leaving a tail of thread, and making sure to NOT reverse stitch on either end.
Step 6: lay strips back on pillow where you’d like them (with the bobbin thread side facing down). Pin ends in place (it makes the next step easier).
Step 7: Ruffle time! Gently pull the bobbin thread (the thread on the bottom) to create the ruffle. Spread the ruffle across the entire strip and pin in place. Repeat for each strip.
Step 8: set your machine back to a regular (or slightly smaller than regular) stitch length. Sew down the center of each ruffle (right on top of the baste stitch).
Step 9: pin pillow front to pillow back, with ruffles inside. Tip: to make sure you don’t sew the ruffle in the side seam, pin bottom-most and top-most ruffles to the side.
Step 10: sew front to back, leaving a 4-5 inch gap on one side. Trim corners. Flip right side out. Stuff.
EDIT: This is also the point where I would use a lint roller to get off all the tiny little balls of fabric that are everywhere…
Step 11: pin opening closed and hand sew shut.
I would show you the finished product, but I actually gave it away before I took a picture… but trust me, it was cute. 
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Made by you Monday @ Skip to My Lou
I am the mother of 2 very busy kids. Audrey (3 going on 16) and Emerson (1). I have a hard working husband, and I am so lucky to be able to stay home and just be a mom! As you can tell, I absolutely love crafting...and this is where I document the 1 in every gazillion projects that I actually finish...oh dear! :-) Enjoy!
41 comments
That is so adorable! I love that you made an orange one…makes me want to make some orange and black ones to put on my couch for halloween! I may have to take a trip to the DI! Wahoo. Your tutorial is amazing=)
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Thanks so much for visiting my blog the other day!! This pillow is fabulous girl!!
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This is such a wonderful tutorial! Thank you for the detailed instructions. I will have to go back through your older posts and see what other little treasures you have.
-Nikki
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Great tutorial! I’m going to have to try this one…
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Wow, this is cute and easy. I can’t wait to try it. On top of the pillow, it’s a great ruffles tute in general. I betcha I can make a super cute ruffles bag after doing this. Thanks so much
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Thank you, everyone! I’m so happy you like the tutorial!!
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Love this! I have three boys so no ruffles on cute kids clothes for me. But a pillow?! An adorable ruffle pillow (or two) tossed onto the couch will surely stand out in the sea of all.boy.all.the.time. stuff. And it will make this girly-girl smile! Thank you for the great tute.
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I love it! And your tutorial was very nicely written and photographed. Thanks for sharing it!
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Oh this is fabulous! Love it! I will be giving it a try!!
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[...] Jess from FloralShowers shows how to turn a t-shirt into a ruffled throw pillow. Very pretty! Go to the tutorial. [...]
This is so pretty!! I posted a link to your tutorial on Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-ruffled-throw-pillow-from-a-t-shirt/2009/09/12/
–Anne
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Thanks for the tutorial! It makes me want to get a new sofa just so I can make new pillows for it!
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Thank you everyone!! Thanks for your comments and your excitement – it’s so fun!! I just love my red ruffle pillow (I even just switched up my bedding to match it) and I’m so glad you all like it, too!
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Very pretty pillow! Your tutorial is very clear and you have some extremely helpful close-ups. I bet your room looks amazing if it now matches that pillow!
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This rocks! Love the ruffles. Love the t-shirt restyle. I am featuring this on a “ruffles” post at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com towards teh end of the week. Check it out and grab my “featured” button.
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[...] we want to give one of our readers a handmade thank you for your support of Floral Showers. The ruffle pillow tutorial has been one of our biggest hits so we thought it’d be fun to give one of the finished [...]
Jess, this is so beautiful! Thanks for sending me your link, I’ve got it featured on my sidebar today!
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Wow! This is really pretty!!!
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Hey! I posted my completed project on craftster, and now it’s on the main page! There’s a link to your tute, so expect some new visitors to the site today! http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=330388.0
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[...] Ruffle Pillow – I love ruffles! I love them even more when I can lay my head down on them. [...]
[...] Now I just need to get my sewing machine fixed…link to Ruffled T-Shirt Tutorial. [...]
Hi Anne, Thanx for visiting my blog..and the nice comment..Well, you can return the favor by being a follower too…And do check my crafts, I think you will like them!!
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I saw something similar on another blog a while back, but the ruffles weren’t made from jersey, so you had to either hem all the little strips or let them fray. Using a tshirt makes much more sense! Do you get the little thread balls continuously with use or is it just after cutting?
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[...] un bonito almohadón para tu sofá de forma económica y original con esas camisetas que ya no [...]
Adorable! I am featuring this tomorrow in our ‘ruffle’ post. Thanks for sharing.
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[...] One more great ruffle pillow tutorial from [...]
[...] Tutorial: Ruffle Pillow: Make a cute ruffly pillow using an old t-shirt. [...]
[...] here is one more because I couldn’t resist: recycled from a t-shirt ruffle pillow. Too clever! [...]
[...] shares a tutorial for turning a t-shirt (size XL or larger) into a decorative pillow with ruffles. Of course, if you don’t want to use a tee, you can make it out of fabric from [...]
I love this.
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[...] Ruffle Pillow Tutorial << FloralShowers [...]
I am totally going to try this!
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[...] out how to make this t-shirt ruffle pillow! Bookmark [...]
These are awesome. When we tossed our old couch I kept the pillows for recovering. I haven’t done it yet, but this would be awesome for them. Thanks for linking up. This will go into the highlights post soon.
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[...] http://floralshowers.com/sewing/ruffle-pillow-tutorial/ [...]
[...] Ruffle Pillow [...]
[...] Ruffle Pillow Ruffly Gathered Pillow [...]
this is excellent!
Rose :: FineCraftGuild.com´s last blog ..Give-Away :: $50 Gift Certificate :: Contemporary Jewelry
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[...] How cute is this ruffle pillow? I want to make a bunch of those, too [...]
[...] on my crafty list, A super cute ruffle pillow (tutorial from Floral Showers here) and some much needed coasters. (tutorial from The Sometimes Crafter [...]
This is very beautiful, thanks for the tutoriel I just discovered. Sorry for my english…
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