World Wide Quilting Page
Question of the Week
Question for the week of July 14, 1997:
Our question this week comes from Angie Ulseth
What is the best way to make a quilt out of t-shirts and how can I make the t-shirts not so stretchy?
Sherie Reed :
I would first gather all the shirts together and decide on a block size that would accommodate all the designs. Then, I would cut off the fronts and stabilize the designs with a lightweight, fusible tricot interfacing. HTC puts out a very nice one but I can't remember the product name off hand. You could either cut your desired size blocks, plus seam all., from the interfacing, fuse to the shirt, then cut the block from the shirt, or you could fuse a piece larger than the desired block size and then cut the block from the shirt. Please note that you probably won't want to try to hand quilt thru the stabilized t-shirt blox unless you have hands of steel!! If you wanted to hand quilt, maybe you could set the shirt blox with a sashing or alternate blocks that could be quilted. The t-shirt blox could be machine quilted or tied. Good luck!
susan combs :
stich witchery, or pellon
laura :
Try using lightweight iron-on interfacing on the fabric. Cut the t-shirt fabric larger than the actual size of your block,put on the interfacing and then cut to size.
Patricia Beaver :
Dear Tee Shirt collector: I have seen several quilts made out of tee shirts and my best advice is to forget it. No matter how you handle it they always stretch and since you are working with so many different fabrics there is no way to stabalize them. Plus, I think they look pretty awful. Why don't you think of another use for your collection and use your quilting time on making a real quilt.
jbr :
Sometime in the last year Fons and Porter had all the instructions and tips in their magazine Sew Many Quilts. If you know of anybody who has a subscription or maybe your library could help you find it.
Anthony :
I fuse lightweight fusible woven interfacing ( I like the 100% cotton from Pellon which I fuse with lots of steam, and let them cool before cutting to size. I use a straight stitch to join the blocks). The interfacing adds the extra benefit of lining the tee. Even nice tees have a bit of show-through when you layer the quilt. I also think the extra layer reduces wear. Especially important if your quilt will be loved by little ones. You know how fast tees wear out. Good luck. I've made two 12 block lap quilts, a queen size bed quilt, and a 4 block wall hanging from tees. People really seem to love them.
Carolyn Evans :
Use a Heat bond and bond the part of the tee-shirt you would be using to muslin. That way the muslin is your foundation.
Beth van Wyngaarden :
I would use an thin iron on interfacing and iron it onto the back of the t-shirt material as a permanent stabilizer. A thin interfacing like you might use for silk works great. Then think I would sew borders around the squares of t-shirt fabric.
Jamie :
I would recommend first sewing the shirts to a stabilizer.
Barb Kirschner :
I use a good washout stabilizer, serge the blocks together if you have a serger, setting differential to 1.5 and being careful not to stretch the knit as you sew. sew on straight of frabric. If you are using a straight sew machine, invest in a walking foot and sew with a ZigZag stitch and following stabilizing and the "no stretch" rules. It works!
Barb Kirschner :
I use a good washout stabilizer, serge the blocks together if you have a serger, setting differential to 1.5 and being careful not to stretch the knit as you sew. sew on straight. If you are using a straight sew machine, invest in a walking foot and sew with a ZigZag stitch and following the "no stretch" rule. It works!
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