How to make a Quilt from Outgrown clothes - Tshirt quilts
I had totally forgotten how much I really LOVE to sew! It has been a very long time, years actually since I have had the time to sit in front of my machine and get lost for a weekend. I finally decided a few weeks ago it was way past due.I have always enjoyed making blankets, quilts, pillows, curtains and only occasionally clothes. With a week full of birthdays at Thanksgiving week and Christmas quickly coming in....... I realized I had never made my granddaughters any blankets or quilts. I guess I was just always to busy enjoying them and watching them grow to have that kind of time commitment.
My daughter in law had given me bags of clothes that my granddaughters had outgrown to go through to see if there was any I could pass onto some girls at Church. As I was looking through them I kind of laughed at the thought of conversations she must have had with my youngest "Raven" at the very mention of getting rid of some of these shirts. You see to Raven, everything is special. She holds onto scrap pieces of paper because it has something she doodled onto it. Her clothes are HER CLOTHES, it does not matter that they are 4 sizes too small, they are HERS. The best part...... she is only 8 lol lol lol. Yeah I pray for her future husband!
That got me thinking - The clothes are hers, why not make something out of them that she could treasure forever? Thus my project was born. Just like I did for her grandpa and her dad and uncles, I would make this next generation a quilt for their next birthday. I needed to get busy! Raven is one of those Thanksgiving week birthdays!!
I used mostly shirts but did incorporate a few pairs of pants with the back pockets to give her a few little stash places for her notes and other special things.
I started out by cutting out the Shirt fronts with my rotary cutter and mat. So much easier than a pair of scissors..... trust me on that! I am not sure how I ever lived without those tools in my younger years. I kept as much of the fabric as I could outside of any printed area so it would be easier to square up. Once I had that done, I measured them and separated them into 2 separate sized stacks. I had 9" and 12". I wanted to use as much as the fabric as I could {waste not, want not - my grandma} so I cut out the sleeves, some were 12" and some up to 16". I then found a couple of pairs of pants that had cute pockets - (I cut those in 9"lengths) or little zippers on the legs (I cut those in the 16" lengths). I also had two dresses in there that was special to both of the girls that I incorporated into Ravens quilt. I saved half of the material to go into Rachel's quilt for her birthday. As another keepsake memory I also incorporated strips from their dads Camo shirt. Shhhhh I know, I KNOW - he has not missed that one so far ;)
Once I had all of my rows done. I sewed together my horizontal bands made up of misc materials 4" wide. I used the bands to bind the rows together and it went by quickly. I now just have to get my backing on and attach a pretty little border and I will be done.
I just really love my new #Singer sewing machine, it has really made my old hobby a great pleasure. It is amazing how much a sewing machine can advance in a scant 55 years! I replaced my 1960's machine last spring and WOW, what used to take drop ins, now is just a push of a button.
As a side note, Amazon has an amazing deal going on for the Stylist machine right now - I wish I would have gotten it for that price!
I hope that I have rekindled your creative juices. There are so many options of things we can do for our family and friends that cost us little more than our time, yet the memory will last a lifetime. Many blessings to all of my friends!
Occasionally I promote products on my pages with affiliate links of products that I own and use. I am a shopper by nature, always looking for the best deal and best quality. I am a steward of my house and the money I spend.
#quilting #sewing #tshirtquilts #keepsakes #hobbys #birthdaypresents
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