Crafty people: Discovered my old sorority clothing items ... what to do?
 

I have a number of sorority T-shirts and sweatshirts that I occasionally wear. I recently discovered (in a box that has followed us through several house moves LOL) a number of other shirts and boxer shorts, many of them from my local, and some of them hand-made.

As many of you know, I pledged a local that later became a chapter of AEPhi, so I have items with AEPhi letters, items with AEPhi spelled out (from back when we were a colony and I was a new member and not allowed to wear letters), and items with Sigma Iota Phi letters.

I'm trying to figure out what to do with them. I'm thinking of making a wall hanging. At the time, printed T-shirts with small patterns on the left chest and large patterns on the back were very popular. I can't figure out how to combine them ... Any ideas?

PM Alum and ask her...she has posted and sent me pictures of keepsake quilts, etc. made from sorority shirts (her daughter and my daughter are chapter sisters, with a few years gap). I think she makes these.

If there is space on the backs, you could take the small pattern, cut it out, and applique it onto the larger back piece somehow. Have you thought about doing a t-shirt quilt?

My shirts are like that and I had them made into a t-shirt quilt. Will take a picture tomorrow and post it. Not only is it a great keepsake but the shirts are so old and worn-in that it is the absolute best blanket in the house.

Someone just asked me to make a t-shirt quilt. I politely refused. They are a lot of work!

There has to be somewhere that makes them though, right? If not, that's definitely a business opportunity someone should get on, stat.

There are crafty folks on sites like Etsy that will make tshirts into quilts for a reasonable fee. That's what I'm planning to do with mine one of these days.

Project Repat is one, with pretty reasonable prices, they are very basic though--no fancy quilted patterns, it's really more of a blanket that they make. My big had her camp shirts made into one and is happy with it.

There are also lots of vendors on Etsy who do them, with varying prices/levels of complicated niceness.

I'd go with a quilt as well. My mom made one out of all of my old shirts for my birthday, it was a lot of work but it turned out great!

You can find a quilter to make them into quilts. If you are on Facebook, there is a group, Quilting, and there are several ladies on that site that make quilts from clothing.

DaffyKD

Here's my $.02 (warning, it's long):

Quilting is expensive. The "quilts" you see at Target or Bed, Bath & Beyond (for example) are usually made in China, of poor quality fabric, and fall apart in no time. What people think is that I can do a quilt for <$50.00. When I quote them a fair price (starting with fabric which is $10-13/yard and up, thread, rotary blade, machine needles, batting, backing, etc., and not including my labor) they blanch. Then I tell them how much a long-arm quilter will charge to finish the quilt. And then I ask them what they are willing to pay for my labor. That usually stops people.

As for t-shirt quilts, the t-shirts have to be backed with a stabilizer of some sort. That's labor intensive. So first the shirt has to be fussy cut correctly, then backed. And you are dealing with different fabric blends (not all 100% cotton) which is a pain. You have to figure in the cost of the fabric for the front (including whether or not you're going to use setting stones when framing each t-shirt, borders, and binding).You don't simply cut the shirts apart, fuse them, and stitch them together. Oh, okay - you can do that but it's gonna look like crap. If you want to cut the front of the shirt up, and stitch that to the back of the shirt, you're adding another extra step.

Important point: there's the whole issue of the cost of a long-arm quilter. Disclaimer - I don't know anything about the person in the link, I simply included that to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. Long-arm quilting machines are outrageously expensive. Of course, you can just stitch in the ditch, and that'll probably be adequate. It won't make the quilt very stable, however.

That said, there are quilting groups on Facebook (I belong to several) and if you want, I'll post there and get you some names. With any luck you'll find someone local. Otherwise you're also going to figure in the cost of shipping.

How to fairly price a quilt is a huge hot button among quilters. Gee, you couldn't tell that, could you?

Most of the ones I have seen are not really "quilts" but rather squares sewn together for the front, a solid piece for the back and then stuffed. Period. No quilting per se.

I used Sew Memorable Quilts to make one for my daughter with her high school t shirts. My sister found her in her hometown. Lisa, owner, is amazing and very reasonable. She was half the cost of someone in my area. I sent her the shirts and she emailed me color swatches and the quilt turned out beautiful. It is truly a small world as I found out that she is friends with one of my sorority sisters! here is a link to her website: http://www.sewmemorablequilts.com/about.html

IUgreekmom - those are really great prices! Thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it and am passing it on. And Lisa is a rep for Gammill (long-arm machines) so she knows what she's doing.

I went to her shop last summer when I was in the area. Lisa is a perfectionist. Also, check out her facebook page. The quilt she made for my daughter is on it.