Monday, June 18, 2012

Stuffed Shirts

Disclaimer: some of you, especially guys (do they even come here?) and/or rabid sports fanatics, might be horrified by what you are about to see. All I can say is - it wasn't my idea. But I love how these turned out, and I'm not one bit sorry. And I'd do it again. And again. Because they were fun too. So there.

A few months ago a guy I used to work with, who also happens to be the brother of one of my sisters' very close friends, asked if I could make Phillies pillows for his man-cave. MLB doesn't make fabric that isn't fleece because of all sorts of licensing mumbo-jumbo, so it was going to be a creative sort of project. We thought maybe MLB bedding, but it would be too money-licious for a few cushions. I thought maybe doing some applique work to mimic jerseys might work. HE thought actual jerseys might work. After half a dozen "Are you SUREs?" I was tasked with jersey pillows. Fast forward to a few weeks ago when said jerseys came into my position, and the thinking cap had to go on to maximize the fabric and work around all the curves for the armholes and such. Fast forward again to Saturday when I snipped and pinned and had too much fun.

One had basic sleeves, the other raglan. Factor in the necklines and my tends-to-overcomplicate brain and I had a good long think before I snippety-snipped.

I knew I was making pillow forms to insert in these in case I had wacky measurements I couldn't find pre-made forms to fit. I wanted to keep them as jersey-looking as I could, so I had to deal with the neckline. I consulted with my creative team (aka asked my mom) and used a knit mesh hunk of fabric to mimic an undershirt (hopefully).


The shoulder curves prevented me from using as deep of a neckline as I would have liked on this one, but it turned out ok. I picked out all the stitches on the "official" labels and resewed those back down.


Each time I made a cut into one of these I cringed a little inside (and may have apologized to the ghost of Mike Schmitt more than once. No, Schmitty isn't dead, in case you were wondering. But it's not like I could apologize to him in person). My dad was all "Who asked you to do THAT?" when he saw what I was up to. Apparently, in my household, jerseys are something to be revered and any degradation to their integrity is to be looked upon in a highly aghast manner. BUT, when I was done, I no longer felt bad. I apologized to Mike Schmitt again--but this time for apologizing in the first place, because the end result was pretty cool. My dad even grinned. He doesn't really grin. He's pretty stoic. He may have been thinking about the ribs and coleslaw we were having for dinner the next day, but I'm going to pretend it was about these. OK--here's your reveal--and I know, I know, they're just pillows--but I love the way they turned out.


Due to the curve of the pillow the red "undershirt" isn't as obvious as I would have liked, but whatevs.


The button-fronts were an unrealized bonus for easy off washing purposes (if you wash a jersey...do you even wash a jersey? I have no idea).

They're the same size--I have no idea why one looks so much larger.

I was stupid geeked about how these turned out. Maybe because they were a little more detail-oriented than I thought they'd be... Even Z-man wants one. I guess I'll be scouring eBay for old jerseys now. Ta!

** This post has been featured on the Shutterfly blog post '75 Rad Team Room Ideas.' **

37 comments:

  1. Those are so cute Bethany!!! Love them!!!

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  2. Cool idea, and love that the buttons saved you zip and/or buttonhole torture of your own!

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  3. I love this! I have 3 boys and I have kept their baseball shirts to make t-shirt quilts with, but as they are getting older they are getting jerseys as opposed to t-shirts. Their rooms are all decorated in baseball/sports. I am definitely making some of these! I hope they turn out as great as yours did :) Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Awesome Idea!! I'm pinning it as I'm getting ready to redo my 13yo twin boys and they are really into sports. Thanks for sharing!

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  6. Stopping by from your link up at Mommy by Day...this is GREAT! My kid's are baseball fans, I'm totally going to do this!! New GFC follower!
    Barbara
    http://chase-thestar.blogspot.com

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  7. Love these! Go Phillies! I grew up a Phillies fan and my favorite player is surely Mike Schmidt. I think it would hurt me to cut into a jersey but simply loves these. My son plays on the Phillies t-ball team so maybe I'll use his shirts after the season ends.

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  8. Such a great idea. Perfect for a boys' bedroom or man cave. I am featuring this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com

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  9. Wow, these are great!!!, I might have to do some of these for hubs man-cave next year when my youngest goes away to college. But I will have to have Rangers - sorry no Philly in Texas :)

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  10. Seriously, I love these. My husband is a former minor leaguer and I want to re-do our office in all baseball stuff. He's love these :)

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  11. Might have to give up one of my Flyers jerseys!

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  12. These look awesome! They would be perfect for a little boys baseball bedroom! You did a great job.. and as a sports fan I applaud your creative use of jerseys! (of course I would have loved a Yankees one!)
    Thanks so much for sharing with the Pink Hippo party.. can't wait to see what you share next!
    xoxo
    Amie @ Pinkapotamus

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  13. Great idea and I loved how they turned out. I would love for you to do a tutorial in July for the CSI project. You can see the challenges on the blog and email me to sign up. I would love to have you on the blog.
    www.thecsiproject.com
    dee@thecsiproject.com

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  14. They've turned out great!

    By the way, I love you new Mini. It took me and my husband over a year to choose our new car!

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  15. Great way to display the uniform! Thank you for sharing!

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  16. These pillows are so cute. I also wanted to do the same thing with an old shirt of my kids but I don't know why I have never gotten around to making them. I still have the shirts (quite too small for my kids now ^^) in my craft room drawer waiting to be attacked! Thanks for sharing this with us, Bethany. I am featuring this today, by the way ^^)

    have a fab weekend!

    Hugs,
    Lelanie

    to-sew-with-love.com
    tocookwithlove.com
    villaportillo.blogspot.com

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  17. Cool idea for the boys of summer shirts.

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  18. I made a quilt with my grandson's jerseys and tee shirts and used part of the sleeves to fill in the necklines!

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  19. love this - now I know what to do w/ my old phillies shirts (of players who were traded!)!

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  20. These are adorable! I have two sons that play baseball and I would love to surprise our older son with this. He has recently moved to college and has chosen to not continue playing. This project would allow us to cherish a couple jerseys with his favorite number from the team he played the most with. I am not as crafty and need a little more direction on how exactly this was done.

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  21. I found your jersey pillows idea at tip junkie (my favorite blog) as a mother of 3 very athletic boys & some what of a horder (i have ever jersey/tshirt re: to sports my boys have every worn) I am over the top with excitement re: this idea. I can't wait to tackle this project. Thank you sooo much for posting this idea. Did i mention I do not know how to sew? Should be intetesting will let you know how mine turned out. :) Thanks

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  22. I found your jersey pillows idea at tip junkie (my favorite blog) as a mother of 3 very athletic boys & some what of a horder (i have ever jersey/tshirt re: to sports my boys have every worn) I am over the top with excitement re: this idea. I can't wait to tackle this project. Thank you sooo much for posting this idea. Did i mention I do not know how to sew? Should be intetesting will let you know how mine turned out. :) Thanks

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  23. Awesome idea!!! I wish I didn't through out my T.O. jersey when he was with the Eagles!

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  24. Will you make 3 for me to purchase from you? Let me know! cmdayoc@yahoo.com

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  25. I have basketball players, what are your suggestion as far as doing this in pillow. How do you think the jersey would look like?

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  26. I have basketball players, what are your suggestion as far as doing this in pillow. How do you think the jersey would look like?

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  27. I have basketball players, what are your suggestion as far as doing this in pillow. How do you think the jersey would look like?

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  28. I have basketball players, what are your suggestion as far as doing this in pillow. How do you think the jersey would look like?

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    1. Rhonda--
      It might be easier as you don't have sleeves to contend with. I would first try to use only the jersey fabric to cut my square, but if that pillow was going to end up on the too-small-side I would try and find something (even an old white t-shirt) to fill in the "gaps" of the neckline and square it off as much as possible (kind of how I did with the red fabric along the neckline of the jerseys above). It'll maintain the jersey look, but give you a nice square shape to work with. Hope this helps!!

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  29. That's very impressive! Turning that jersey into a pillowcase is awesome! I'll definitely try this out for my old jerseys.
    - UESports.com

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