make it monday: tshirt quilt

today's project:

THE T-SHIRT QUILT

i knew i wanted to make one of these when i first saw the idea awhile ago, and was kicking myself for not saving more of our old tshirts! but thankfully i found enough between both our shirts to make a decent sized quilt top :)

materials needed:

tshirts. :)

- i used approximately 33 tshirts, and i only used whichever side had a design. (some had designs on the front and back so i used both sides). i did 7 rows of 5 across, using 35 squares total.

notes:: another friend who also made a tshirt quilt cut the front and back of the tshirts even if they didn't have designs, and had some blank jersey squares mixed with the patterns, which is also a great idea! unfortunately i asked her about it too late, as my scraps were already in the dumpster :P
-if you don't have quite enough tshirts, you could always go buy a few soft ones from good will, too!

rotary cutter and mat. (you don't *have* to use these, but they sure make cutting much easier)


guide for cutting. (i used the ruler pictured above as well as a piece of 12x12 paper as a guide to follow to cut each square.)

thread.
since the shirts are all different colors, i really don't think it matters what color thread you use. i used navy blue since at least half of my shirts were blue of some sort :)

sewing machine. (you could sew them by hand if you don't have a machine, it would just take a lot longer!)

STEP ONE:

gather all your shirts, and make sure they are clean and ready for cutting.

here's my pile of tshirts (that my dog of course is laying on top of :P)


side note:: one of the fun parts of this project was picking out the tshirts to use, and remembering where each came from. the one "i love my husband" was a wedding present, we have a bunch from our times at emmaus, and from some of the teaching jobs i had, ben got the "hard rock" one from one of his trips to thailand in the navy. such fun memories! :)


STEP TWO:

cut all the sleeves off your tshirts, and separate the fronts from the backs so you have flat pieces to cut.

STEP THREE:

using your tools, cut out 35 squares from your tshirts. you can make them any size you want. i did 12x12 (the size of a piece of scrapbook paper) and that seemed to cover most of the designs on each shirt. whatever size you choose, just make sure to cut them all as close to the same size as you can to make it easier to piece them together! i laid the piece of paper over the shirt and tried to center it as best i could, then cut away!

STEP FOUR:

once you have all your squares cut (or as you go along), lay out your squares in the order you want them to go

tip: stack each row in order so you remember! :)



STEP FIVE:

sew each square together in the order you have them laid out.

tip: make sure to use the same seam allowance for each of your squares and rows to make sure they all match up! i like to use the end of my presser foot as a guide to go by.

i sewed my 7 rows of 5 first, then i sewed those longer rows together one on top of the next (does that make sense?) :) match up each corner. i don't think the jersey needs ironing at the seams, but that would be up to you!







note:: i did notice that the jersey fabric is a bit more slippery than some of the other cotton fabrics i've made quilts out of. that can be a bit challenging to make your lines completely straight, but the plus side is that with the stretchiness, it makes it easier to match all the corners well! :) just do your best. handmade quilts aren't supposed to be 100% perfect anyways (in my opinion!)

STEP SIX:

once you have your top all finished, measure the finished size so you know how much backing fabric you need. mine is around 80 x 58



this is the step i'm on now. to finish your quilt, pick out your backing fabric, and decide if you want batting in the middle. i think i might skip batting on this one to make a thinner blanket, but if you want it to be extra warm, batting would definitely give it a thicker layer!

STEP SEVEN:

put it all together and then you have your quilt! :) i haven't finished mine yet as i am still searching for just the right fabric for the back (i'm thinking about minky). i'll be sure to check in when it's done and let you know any tips i have for putting the back on! :)

also, i'm certainly not the world's best sewer, but if you have any ?s, please let me know!
hope you have fun gathering old tshirts and making a fun comfy quilt!