My sister recently asked about making a tee shirt quilt for my nephew who will be graduating from high school this spring. I've heard they're difficult and wonder if anyone has done this. His shirts are actually soccer jerseys so they aren't tee shirt material but a slicker, heavier fabric. Any ideas/suggestions greatly appreciated!
Curlytop
I am no expert, but what I have done in the past is stablilise with iron on interfacing and then treat as other stabilised fabrics. It worked well for me in wall hangings that were quilted, from memory I did not extend the interfacing into the seam allowance in an attempt to reduce the bulk.
That's what I'd be doing too Curlytop. The fabric of tshirts is knit fabric and tends to want to stretch at the drop of a hat. It's better to stabilise it with some iron on interfacing which will hold it whilst you put it into a qult formation.
Good luck and have fun.
Cheerio for now
Thanks for the input. I'm going to try on a couple of old tee shirts while waiting for my sister to mail my nephew's jerseys.
Curlytop
Let us know how you get on Curlytop. We'll be interested to see the final result.
Cheerio for now
Sorry, no suggestions here, but I've got two piles of t's one for my son (little league-high school baseball) and one for my daughter, (cheerleading)and am nervous about getting these started. so, I'm hoping to see an answer for you/us too! so, in advance "Thanks quilters!!"
Heather
PS I've already bought a whole role of interfacing and am ready to go, except for the design and the nerve!
A brief update...when I received the box of shirts from my sister it contained 30 shirts; 15 polyester or nylon and 15 cotton tees. I decided to use the polyester & nylon ones for the top and put my nephew's senior picture in the center. I have the top together with sashing and plan to add a 6" border. I've cut the portions I want from the cotton shirts and plan to fuse & applique them around the border. We are RV full-timers and spending the next couple of weeks slowly moving north from FL so have put my project on hold for a little bit. Will post a picture when completed. I've really enjoyed planning this project and seeing it come together and it's not been as difficult as I expected.
Curlytop
How very interesting Curlytop, and I wonder how you stabilized the t.shirt fabric, or did you find it was holding it's own shape?
How about the travel you'll be doing, is it fun to stitch in an RV?
Cheerio for now
Hi Judie,
I used Pelon craft fuse, a nonwoven fusible interfacing on the shirts. I would use something lighter in the future as it's a little stiff. I used Pelon wonder under to fuse the cotton shirt pieces to the border, which worked well.
I do enjoy the full-time RV life, where I meet so many wonderful crafters. One of our winter destinations is where I learned to quilt. It's not difficult to machine piece in our 5th wheel but it's helpful to be in an RV park with a clubhouse for quilting as I can usually put several large tables together for a larger, better workspace. It's a lot of carting back & forth at times, but so far enjoyable.
I so enjoy your forum, Judie, and your weekly newsletters; keep up the good work!
Curlytop
My granddaughter is a sophomore tennis player and my daughter has asked if I could do a t-shirt quilt for her for graduation. Can anyone point me to a good resource, instruction, pattern for this? I have never done one before, and I was concerned talking about interfacing and Pellon, as I don't know how stiff this should be. I am not going to start this quilt for a year and a half, but I was following this subject to see what you are doing! Thanks!
Hello Mary, lovely to hear from you. As you can see from the comments above yours, Curlytop and others are great for advice. But I want to let you know I'm currently surfing the web for all manner of tutorials and instructions and patterns and I'll post the links in an Article On Making Quilts from T. Shirts, next Sunday 7th April. So keep an eye out for that article, I'm sure it together with all the helpful advice you get on this forum, you'll be able to make a lovely quilt for your granddaughter.
Cheerio for now
Hi Judie and Mary, I found a couple of sources on the internet by searching for "making tee shirt quilts." Im a visual person and each had several pictures. Quiltbug.com and straw.com were the sites. The task was a bit daunting and as I cut the second shirt I remember telling my husband, "Well, there's no turning back now!" Next week we will be parked for a couple of weeks and I look forward to working on this project again. Curlytop
I recently completed 2 t-shirt quilts. I used Pellon fusible featherweight 911FF. It is very lightweight.It worked very well. The first one had the shirts on only one side. I was able to handquilt that one. The other was two-sided, or reversible. I tied that one to keep it together.
Fantastic advice gals, thanks for contributing. I'm posting an article this Sunday with lots and lots of links for instructions and tutorials on making T.shirt quilts. So keep an eye out for that.
I just love this forum. Always getting responses from lovely quilters from all over the world, just being their generous selves and offering good advice. Well done girls!!
Cheerio for now
I have made 2 t-shirt quilts, working on the 3rd. The stabilizer I use is Easy-Knit Fusible Tricot interfacing. Because t-shirts stretch side to side fuse the tricot to the back of the t-shirt the opposite direction from top to bottom. A resource I used is Tips for working with T-shirts in You Did What?? With My T-Shirts by Judy Bobbitt & Katie Reed. I layer the stabilized t-shirt block with Warm & Natural batting and a backing fabric (my preference is Stonehenge by Northcutt)and machine quilt around emblems, etc. I sew the t-shirt blocks together using the sashing method from Reversible Quilts by Sharon Pederson. T-shirt quilts can be very heavy, using this method I can machine quilt using my home machine.
Hey Quiltr2, thanks for that advice. I never realised that the t.shirt material stretches from side to side. Duh! I guess that makes sense now that I think about it.
Living in Australia, I must admit that making a t.shirt quilt is not a common thing to do here. I've seen quilts made of baby clothes and sheeting and ruggies etc and even quilts with cub/scout badges all over them, but not many t.shirt quilts.
Tell me readers, is it popular in the US or Europe? Do these quilts get used?
Cheerio for now
I didn't know making a T-shirt was supposed to be difficult when I made one several years ago for my daughter. Someone DID tell me to stabilize the shirts before cutting & sewing ~ thank goodness.
I stabilized with a lightweight nylon fusible which worked very well.
Since printing on T-shirts are different sizes I made my blocks each about 12" by adding fabric to top/bottom/sides. In some blocks I used 4 of the small printing (usually on the front upper left) to make a 12" block. I had no pattern so it was very hit & miss. I placed it on the floor & just kept measuring to make sure everything fit together, then added a border. It turned out great!
Here is my nephew with my finished tee shirt quilt. It was a big hit with both him & his mom (my sister)! [url=http://www.mccorkles.org/images/WebPictures/Summer2013/June/162%20Ross%20Quilt.jpg]The Adventures of Bob & Kathy[/url]
I had to open it in another browser, but that looks really cool!
I know this topic is a few months old, but I am a member of the Quilting and sewing enthusiasts! group on Facebook, and a member has just posted a photo of a quilt she has completed for a customer using TShirt patterns, the advice in the comments was to use the lightest weight interfacing. I thought this might interest those wanting to make a quilt using TShirt prints.
You are a gem IMM, this will help many quilting mothers out there who are busy making unique t.shirt quilt creations.