A DGD has 55 t-shirts she would like made into a quilt. Anyone make one or can point my DD and me in the right direction as to how to go about it. Any help would be appreciated. Books, sites or whatever info you have.Thanks
I've made several, used fusible interfacing for the first one & never again. T-shirts are very forgiving and if u have good quality ones then u can just use them plain. If they're very thin I wouldn't use them. The stretchy-ness makes them easy to match seams. I'd encourage you to get a couple of extras to experiment with & see how you like sewing with them. If u want them to act like regular cotton fabric then go ahead and use the interfacing but if you're comfortable with the slight stretchy-ness they'll go together like butter. Much easier than a cotton quilt, in My opinion.
Also, watch out for getting the quilt too big. I made one with about 36 shirts & it's so heavy it's a pain to use. I use the plain backs of the shirts for the back of the quilt but since u have so many u may want to make it double sided. Good luck
I will respectfully disagree with toryam (butI've seen her work....she's good!) So give it a try both ways; use interfacing and try it without (use a ballpoint needle if you do). I prefer a lightweight interfacing. Like Needlecrazy said - there are good tutorials out there, you'll get loads of good tips.
Yes, they get heavy! YOu may only want a light batting.
When you are calculating yardage for the interfacing, remember that the width is NOT 42-44" like a bolt of fabric. It is smaller (I'm not certain, but it's maybe half that).
I buy and use the prepackaged lightweight fusible dressmaker's interfacing at Hancock Fabrics to stabilize mine. It's 15" wide and I think 3 yards long. You do have to put a cloth over it so that the iron glides easier.
Cut your shirts up the sides and through the armpit and out the sleeve. It'll make it easier to salvage the designs on the shirts. I have even saved the pockets. After the quilt is made, I've appliqued the pockets onto the quiltleaving them where you can still use the pocket to hide a treasure in them.
To help you decide whether or not to use fusible interfacing, consider how it will be quilted. If you will have someone else do the quilting, ask which they prefer. I have had two different longarmers tell me they will not quilt one without the interfacing. If you are going to do it yourself, try a sample using the same method you will use for the quilt.
Another suggestion, especially if you are a relative newbie at piecing quilts, is to cut all pieces the same size. Start with the largest design on a shirt and then cut all others the same size. I was asked to finish one that someone else had started and she had cut the designs in a wide variety of sizes. It was quite a chore to figure out how to make it all go together.
I always use stabilizer in the ones I make. I quilted one for a lady that had just sewed the t-shirts to a cotton square. They were a royal pain to try to keep from stretching while quilting. The first one I did was like pvillelou described. It was already started and I was asked to finish it. I really think I like that one best of all the ones I've done.
In order to see the rainbow, first you must endure the rain.
Today at my quilt gathering, we took a whole t-shirt quilt apart,borders and sashing, because it was so wonky, the lady that was quilting it, said she would not do it..i didnt ask what kind of stabilizer she used..but i will find out. after looking at it,when it was all apart, i need to call her and tell her to re-square it up too..
I just finished one for my daughter's friend. Most of my blocks were 12 x 12 but since some logos were bigger, I did a row that was 12 x 17. I did fuse all the shirts with light weight fusible interfacing and found that when sewing the sashing to the tshirts, it helped to sew with the tshirt on the top - it would at least glide a little better. I used fleece for the backing - no batting. I don't know what to tell you about 55 shirts! I like your quilt - meme quilts. That used a lot more shirts than mine did! Susan
Posts: 604 | Location: West Central Ohio, USA | Registered: Dec 28, 2002
I bought the ebook and while it's not a work of art (the book) it does give you an alternative to making the quilt rather than just having rows of logos and designs with sashing.
Posts: 467 | Location: Virginia | Registered: Nov 10, 2004
Thanks, I think there are "parts" of 46 shirts in that quilt. Some of them were just pockets or logos that were pocket size. I did use some pieces of the shirts for fillers to make them come out to the right size. It's the only one I've done this way. The others have been squares with sashing around them.
In order to see the rainbow, first you must endure the rain.
thank you for all your help and hints, It is really appreciated. Hopefully when done my daughter will post a picture. Unless we really oops it up. which I might share also and qualify for the ugly quilt category, But I have faith because we both have tackled some challenging patterns,
THANK YOU Kim-Strut for your tuts!!!! I love the shadow one, and I've wanted to make a tshirt quilt for a long time, and I've known I wanted them made with the shadow, but for the life of me I couldn't find the pics of what I wanted.. or the tutorial of how to do it!!!! You have saved the day!!!
Lisa (=^.^=)
Posts: 1499 | Location: Central Iowa 'GO HAWKEYES' | Registered: May 25, 2005
