Night and Day (Dress Shirt Pillow Shams)

Our little one has decided to start sleeping longer and longer at night - last night he was asleep by 12.45 and woke up at 7.30 - which is pretty awesome, for sleeping purposes.  What this means, though, is since he eats roughly 10 times per day, we now have much less time to get those 10 feedings in.  So now, he's hungry every what feels like 6.37 seconds.  I used to be able to nurse him to sleep and do things during those 2 hours in between.  Not anymore.  Now I get about 20 minutes to run around like a hopped up Charlie Sheen, trying to do everything I need to get done before he wakes up and wants to eat again.  

Gratuitous baby pic of the day:  Steelers Baby!

Luckily, those 20 minutes are exactly enough time to make these pillow shams.  (OK, to be honest, it takes about 20 minutes per sham.  So 2 sets of 20.  But still - that's pretty fast.)  Hubby cleaned out his closet a few days ago and left me a big pile of clothes to donate.  In the pile were several dress shirts in almost brand new condition.  Hubs has a fondness for stripped dress shirts, but since he wears golf shirts to work every day, his collection tends to grow faster than he can wear them out.  I set a few of them aside to see what I could do with them.

(If you're looking to donate clothing or other household items on the East Coast, the Purple Heart foundation does a great job using donations to support veterans.  And they come to you!  You can schedule a pick up online and they come to your house and take whatever you have for them.  Definitely recommend.)

I've been looking around for a while for some cute pillow shams to use on the spare pillows on the couch in my office.  I haven't been able to find any that are 1) not so girly or bedroom-y that they would look weird on a couch and 2) not outrageously expensive for a frigging pillow sham.  Staring at these dress shirts, I realized that it would be pretty easy to sew together some shams from them.  Below are the steps I followed in case you're interested in making your own.  They are super easy - if you can pin and sew in 4 straight lines, you're there.   The finished pillows are decorative and funky - perfect for the cozy couch in my little upstairs den.  

Raid someone's closet for old dress shirts they no longer wear, or visit a thrift shop and see what colors and patterns you can find. 

First, button your shirt and lay it out flat on a firm surface.  Cut off the sleeves and the collar.  Turn the shirt inside out.

Second, (and this is where using a striped shirt will make the process even easier) slide your pillow inside and pin the sides of the shirt at the edge of the pillow.  There will probably be fabric left over on either side.  The more centered the pillow is, the more centered the buttons will be on the front of your shirt.  I chose a stripe at the right spot and pinned down the length of it.

Third, remove the pillow and sew down this line, double stitching at the top and bottom for added strength.

Fourth, return the pillow to the inside out shirt and pin the top and bottom, lining up the bottom of the pillow as close as possible to the bottom at the widest point of the shirt.  Unbutton the buttons to remove the pillow.

Fifth, sew along the new pinned lines.  

Sixth, cut off the excess fabric around the sides.  Turn the sham right-side-out and slide the pillow inside.  Button the buttons and show off your new pillow sham!

So easy, right?!