Here’s a practical project that adds a touch of whimsy to your couch.

“Where’s the remote, Mom? Hey!! Have you seen the remote?”

The interrogation and cushion tossing begins in family rooms across the country. You’d better hope we can find the remote before the opening face-off of The Sharks game.

The solution? A Pocket Pillow to hold the remote. And this one’s extra-special, crafted from recycled denim shorts, custom-dyed to match your decor.

I started with a pair of off-white cotton denim shorts, for $3.99 from the Goodwill. I bought a ladies size 16. 100% cotton would work fabulously; this pair is 98% cotton, 2% Lycra.

I laid out the shorts and plotted what shape pillow I’d like to make. Some options:

1. One horizontal, rectangle-shaped pillow, with two pockets on each side.
2. Two vertical. rectangle-shaped pillows with one pocket on each side.

I went with option number 2 because the shape would work better on our couch (and this would allow me to make a second pillow as a gift).

I sliced the jean shorts in two. Yup, cut right up the crotch – Ouch!

I wanted to make the pillows fun and not make the design complicated. How do I spell fun? C-O-L-O-R.

I chose two shades of fabric dye from the craft store. Our pillow will scream ‘Hey! Here’s the remote right here,’ in its cheerful, lime green (an accent color we’ve sprinkled sparingly in our room).

So, following the package directions I dyed half the shorts our lime green, then laundered it according to the directions.

The other pillow will be aqua blue, so I dyed and laundered the other shorts-half and set it aside for later.

Back to the lime green. For the whimsical look, I wanted to keep much of the jeans detail. To do that and sew the pillow easily, I removed the bulk of the inside half the zipper.

Here’s how the sewing went. With wrong-sides together, I top-stitched closed only the zipper-flap, along its existing stitching near the outside edge. Then I flipped the pillow inside-out and sewed the remainder of the seam (from the bottom of the zipper down) with right-sides together.

I trimmed off the extra fabric, close to that first seam. Then with chalk I marked the bottom seam. I found it easiest to fold the waistband down and trace its line. On the right you will see the seam marked and ready to stitch.

Because I was taking advantage of the existing jeans styling, the third side of the pillow was already sewn (the outside seam of the leg). So I trimmed the excess fabric from the bottom seam, then flipped the pillow case to right-side-out. On the right below is the TV Remote Pillow, ready to stuff.

I stuffed it with Polyfil, being sure to fill corners and nooks and crannies. I played a bit to get the amount I liked for a soft and not overly-stuffed pillow.

All that was left was to top-stitch along the existing top-waistband stitching. This closed and completed the Remote Pillow!

Here it is in its happy home.

And you can switch up the look (or stow another remote) by using the flip-side with its remote pocket too!

Now, I’ve got to get to work on the aqua pillow. I think this is destined for my daughter’s bedroom–nope, no TV in there–she will use it to hold her little journal.

Where do you corral your remote(s)? And what are your favorite projects for recycling jeans?