Memory Cuddle Cushions, from a Loved One's shirt.

I was recently commissioned to make some cushion covers from men's shirts.  The gentleman who owned, and obviously wore the shirts, had passed, so these cushions were to be a precious memory of him.

First of all I was told they were to be for a 16"  (40cm) cushion pad.  And there lies the first issue. You would think that you could just cut a square and sew it up, wouldn't you?  But at no point could I get a 16" measurement that incorporated the logo too  (Ralph Lauren).    The measurement across the shoulders was less than 16", but if I dropped down I lost the logo as the measurement down from that didn't measure 16" either.

So, a bit of artistic cutting and rebuilding was needed.

First I took off the sleeves (both of them), and sewed a little fabric under the shoulder seams to make up to 16" (plus seam allowance of course) across.  I cut off the back and used it to panel in a piece at the front, therefore utilising the buttons from the front to be the opening for the cushion at the back.

To make it less cushiony and more "shirty" I sewed a sleeve back on the front, laying across the chest.  I also left the neckline in place, sewing up all the gaps by hand.

So, as you can see, I managed to get the logo in  :)

And the back.... perfect button opening for the cushion to pop in and out for laundering.

So, that was one done, onto the next.  

The blue one was a bit trickier again as it was short sleeve, so a huge lack of fabric to work with. 

 So what I did was I simply cut a square out of the main part of the shirt to include the neckline and logo, hemmed it all the way around and appliqued it to a plain square taken from the back of the shirt.

Again, I used the buttons from the front to make the opening for the cushion to pop in and out.

  The blue method was definitely easier, and both look good I think!

I hear the recipient was pleased anyway, and that's the main thing   :)