Hoodie Cushion

Hoodie Cushion made from a recycled Leavers Hoodie

Repurposing  a Hoodie

Hoodies and t-shirts now seem to be an essential part of any school trip or event.

Unfortunately if you have a bean pole daughter like mine, you outgrow them only 5 minutes after you’ve been given them.  This was Abbis leavers hoodie from school. She left school in July.  This picture was taken only 2 months later in early September. ?

The back has the names of all her friends from school.

This has been a common thing in our house – Abbi is only 11, but is already taller than me.  She was disappointed to outgrow it so quickly, so we repurposed it into something that she could keep bit longer.
It was fairly easy to transform into a cushion.

Method

When cutting the hoodie up, get as much useable fabric from as you can. Cut off the hood as close to the neck as possible in a straight line, and the arms as close as possible to the seams.Next trim up the body into 2 rectangles, keeping the lines as straight as possible.  These will form the front and back of the cushion. Cut open the arms, to use this material as the “fold over” in the cushion.Normally when I make cushions, I put an extra piece of material on the front and back (overlapping) as a way of covering the opening on the cushion pad.

However on these, as I don’t want to cover up the back of the hoodie, so I have taken the back all the way up to the top to avoid losing any of the graphic.

To make these, take the back with the number on it, and hem along the bottom as low down as possible.  I accidentally hemmed the top – but its barely noticeable.

On the front side of the hoodie (with the pocket / pouch), attach an overlap strip from the material cut from the arms.  This should be cut into a rectangle as wide as the hoodie front, and approximately 4-6 inches high.

Place both of these pieces outward side facing each other, and hem together.Lay outward facing sides together, hem the front and back together.Place all three pieces flat, before folding the back on top of the front, and the sleeve overlap on top of the back (all with the outside of the hoodie facing inwards).

Sew up both sides.
Optionally – neaten up all the edges and hems with a zig zag stitch, and trim off any excess.

Add Cushion Filler

Turn the whole hoodie inside out, and fill with a cushion filler.  Because of the size of Abbis hoodie, mine turned out slightly oblong – despite that, I filled mine with a square cushion pad and its absolutely fine.

I borrowed Jamies room to do the photos, as the light is awful in Abbis…..

Here is the front – Its not particularly clear in the photo, you can just see it still has the little pouch pocket on the front as a little secret storage compartment.And here is the back.
And a full shot of Jamies room.  I made the moustache art for him many years ago.I did offer to make a cushion out of Jamies old school hoodie too, but he politely declined, so I guess not for everyone!  Abbi loves hers and its a great way of holding on to some of the primary school memories for a few more years.