T-Shirt Memory Quilt
- Category
- Fabrics
- Difficulty
- Medium Difficulty
- Great for *
- High School and up
- Cost
- $20 to $50
- Build time
- Put aside a day
Make a quilt out of your old T-Shirts and save those memories forever.
Materials
- Fleece for backing,
- Fuseable interfacing,
- Cotton/Bamboo Batting,
- Old T-Shirts,
- thread,
- Yarn
Tools
- Sewing Machine,
- Needle,
- Straight Edge Ruler,
- Fabric pen,
- Iron,
- Quilter 12 1/2" square template,
- optional - white fabric pencil or fabric chalk,
- Fabric Scissors
Steps
1
Decide how big you want your quilt. For every shirt you can do 2 squares. Usually one will be plain and one will have the design on it. If you want all designs in your squares you will need double the shirts since you won't be using one side. Since your squares are 12"= 1ft once finished it should be easy to figure out the quilts final dimensions. Example a quilt that is 4 squares across and 5 squares down would be 4FT X 5FT... you would need 10 shirts for a total of 20 squares. 5x5 25 squares etc....
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2
Wash and dry all your T-Shirts ** No fabric softer or dryer sheets. The fusible interfacing will not bond with the fabric if softener is used.*
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3
Dismantle shirts: Lay shirt flat, cut off sleeves, cut up side of shirt to hole from removed sleeves. All that should be left intact is the shoulders. Cut top of shirt apart along the stitch line at shoulders.
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4
Using your quilters square template find the design you want from your shirt. Cut a piece of fusible interfacing larger then your quilters square (to allow for placing on the back side) flip shirt over and approximate or measure where webbing should go. Iron on interfacing. ** There is a difference between fusible interfacing and fusible webbing. Interfacing will strengthen the stretchy cotton of T-Shirts and not allow it to fray or stretch while you are sewing it. Webbing will allow you to fuse 2 materials together like a glue.** You want interfacing here !!!!!
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5
Once your interfacing is ironed on the back (wrong side) of you T-Shirt half flip it over so the correct side is facing you (make sure it is on a flat surface). Place your quilters square in the correct position to capture the design you want. Trace outside of the square. **if you are using a 12 1/2" square there is 1/4" seam allowance so you will not see that outside 1/4" once you sew them together* also *if you are using a lot of dark shirts I recommend a white pencil in addition to the fabric pen, so you can see easily on dark fabric**
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6
Cut square out with fabric scissors.
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7
Once all of your squares are cut out you can work them like a giant puzzle. Give yourself lots of space to work. Lay out all of your squares, move, rotate and adjust your squares until you are satisfied with your overall quilt (Too many darks together?? Too many busy squares together?? However you want it, make it so.
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8
Now that you are satisfied with how it looks, now you can get down to business. Peal off the paper backing from the squares. Taking one column (downward row)at a time start pinning and sewing the squares together. (Just a quick 7th grade home economics sewing lesson..... square 1 in the column should be facing you, place square 2 face down and upside down good side of fabric together) sew 1/4" seam with a straight stitch.
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9
Continue step 8 until all of your squares are in columns. You should now have several columns ready. Starting with your far left column (we will call this Column 1) and column 2, pin and sew these two together in the same manner you did the squares to make columns. Repeat until all columns are sewn together
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10
AHHH the hardest part is done. So take a breath step back and admire your beautiful work.
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11
Place your sewn together quilt squares face down on a flat surface. Lay your cotton batting on the back of your quilt squares * I would presoak your batting if you are using a natural cotton or cotton-bamboo blend. These will shrink 2-3% on your first wash if you do not presoak. This will warp your quilt. You will need to have several hours... possibly overnight to let your batting dry, so plan ahead. ** Pin the batting and quilt together in enough places so you can flip it over.
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12
Flip over quilt. The right side with all of the designs should now be facing you. Take your fleece and place it face down (good sides together) over your quilt.You should be looking at the wrong (back) side of the fleece. Pin everything together. Make sure that you have everything secure because your next move it to the sewing machine and you don't want things moving on you now.
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13
Take your quilt to the sewing machine (carefully). Sew the outer edge ALMOST all the way around, leave yourself a hole to pull the quilt through so it can be right side out (like flipping a pillowcase the right way). ** Make sure you take ALL of your pins out before you turn right side out... OUCH if you forget :)*
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14
Once you have it flipped right side out, finish sewing the hole closed.
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15
Lay flat and get your needle and yarn ready. At every corner where your squares meet you will want to sew in ties. Go through the top of quilt pulling your yarn through until you have 2 1/2" tail or so come back up through the fabric as close to your original hole as you can. Pull needle snip off yarn so there is a 2 1/2" tail left. Tie tails together. Repeat for all corners where squares meet.
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16
You are done. Box up your quilt and give someone a very special gift or snuggle up on the couch in front of the fire with your awesome new memory keeper. Either way this quilt will be enjoyed and your memories are preserved even though your favorite concert shirt doesn't fit anymore :)
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