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

[ISUKappa]

I've made a few, just for personal use. They are extremely labor intensive (see all the steps AZ posted. Fracking stabilizing. And the measuring!) but they are nice and we do use them. For the shirts that have a small design on the front, I cut those out and made an additional block for the center of my husband's blanket. It just happened to work out size and numbers wise for ours, but I suppose you could also use them in corners.

I used a sheet for the backing of each quilt and cheated on the edges. I didn't use binding since they were just for us, and then hand tied them every few inches. I wouldn't recommend going that route, but it was easy/fast for me.

[Still BLUTANG]

Originally Posted by Titchou

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.

that's the type of "quilt" i planned on making with my old shirts.

[ComradesTrue]

Originally Posted by Titchou

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.

Yes this is what I have as well.

I have seen ads in the back of runner's magazines for companies that will do these types of quilts.

[alum]

Originally Posted by Sciencewoman

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.

Thanks Sciencewoman! I take commissions for t shirt quilts. I charge $X per 14.5" finished block which includes my labor, batting and notions. The client purchases the fabric for the backing, sashing, and borders. Other items that I have incorporated into t shirt quilts are hoodies, sweatpants, a nylon windbreaker, bandanas, scarves, honor cords, terrycloth rally rags.....

What I do with the breast pocket mini designs is to combine several mini-designs to make 1 more block. I like to keep the elements of the garment in the block if possible ie zippers, buttons, pockets.

They are a tremendous amount of work but my clients love them. Right now I am working on a TJHSST/USNA one and a bunch of t shirt bolster pillows for several prep school graduates.

If you want to make it yourself, here are instructions as posted in The Key a couple of years ago. My edits are in CAPS.

Directions:
Select 30 T-shirts. Using a 14" square piece of glass (available at a lumber yard) as a template, cut the fronts from the T-shirts using a rotary cutter. The glass is heavy enough to hold the shirt while cutting and transparent so you can see if the shirt is centered. Cut a 14" square of light-weight muslin and stitch to the back of each block to stabilize it.

I USE A CLEAR OMNIGRID 15 X 15 QUILTING RULER INSTEAD OF GLASS. I USE GRIDDED (MARKED IN 1 INCH SQUARES) FUSIBLE INTERFACING INSTEAD OF STITCHING LIGHTWEIGHT MUSLIN. IT STABILIZES THE STRETCHY T-SHIRT FABRIC BETTER. BE CAREFUL WHEN IRONING! SOMETIMES THE DESIGN MIGHT MELT IF IT'S NOT SILKSCREENED.


Sew T-shirt blocks together, matching corners. Or, for a different look, sew a strip on each side of the square, then sew the strips together. Alberta first used a 3 ½" wide black strip, taking ½" seams. On another, she accented the black strip with a 3 ½" gold square at the corners – using Missouri school colors.
DITTO

To finish the top, lay the quilt and backing on the floor, right sides together. Pin, then stitch all around, leaving a 24" opening in one of the long sides. Return the quilt to the floor. Cut the batting to the exact size and lay it on top of the quilt. (Alberta used extra loft.) With a friend, roll the quilt backing and batting from corners as tightly as possible – rolling toward the opening. Stretch the opening over the huge roll of cotton and fabric and turn your quilt right side out. Unroll it carefully, working out any bumps or wrinkles. Stitch closed.
I SAFETY-PIN THE QUILT SANDWICH (BACKING, BATTING, TOP) TOGETHER, QUILT IT AND BIND IT RATHER THAN MAKING A QUILT PILLOW. IT CAN BE DIFFICULT TO GET ALL THE WRINKLES OUT FROM THE TURN-RIGHTSIDE-OUT METHOD

For tying you can use yarn, all six strands of embroidery floss, pearl cotton, or heavy crochet thread. The quilt should be tied about every four inches in a square or surgeon's knot. Alberta tied her quilts on the wrong side, but says that tying on either side would work.
I MACHINE QUILT IT. I ALSO ADD A HANGING SLEEVE AND LABEL TO THE BACK.

[AlwaysSAI]

I've looked into have a bunch of my t-shirts quilted and it seems to me that ~$300-400 is pretty reasonable.

The way I see it, the t-shirts that would otherwise gather dust in the back of a closet will be turned into a lifelong usable keepsake. I'd pay a pretty penny to make sure it is well done.

[aephi alum]

Perhaps I should have been more clear with my post. I *am* crafty. I can sew, knit, and cross-stitch, but I've never tried quilting. This is why I was thinking of sewing up a wall hanging.

I'm thinking I should measure the dimensions of the pocket designs, back-of-shirt designs, and T-shirt letters, and grid them up somehow. And hope I can stitch them together before my cat decides to "help". LOL

[TPA85]

I use this woman and she is reasonably priced from what I've seen posted in this thread. She really invests a lot of time on every quilt and it shows.
http://marysquiltedmemories.com/

[AZTheta]

I looked at that link. The prices posted are starting prices. She's got a lot of add ons so she's fairly pricing, when all is said and done.

Thanks for the link, I'm passing that one on as well!

[GratefulGramma]

Originally Posted by Titchou

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'm curious. If there is no quilting, how does the stuffing stay in place and not wad up on one side?

[seaquin]

I've never heard of quilting with t-shirts, but can't you just give them to your sisters? Not sure about the Sigma Iota Pi stuff, but you can definitely donate the AEPhi clothes to sisters. But then again, I'm just not a crafty person. The "craftiest" thing I ever did with a too-big sorority shirt was cut the sides and tie it up to make it fit smaller.

[DubaiSis]

I've done t-shirt quilts for myself and for others. I actually think it's a good way to learn the basics of quilting because you're working with such large pieces. But it does take a LOT of patience. And your favorite local quilter may be willing to just GIVE you fabric for sashing if you ask nice. I have a mountain of fabric and would happily give some of it away. The problem is quilters horde small scraps of fabric and there may not be enough of what you want.

And here's a trick for the fabric backing. Go to an outlet store and buy a flat sheet, 100% cotton in the size large enough for your quilt. I generally paid less that $10 for a good quality 100% cotton king size sheet, which is FAR less than buying an equivalent amount at the fabric store, which would then have to be pieced together. And depending on the look you're going for, the extra from the back can be used as sashing or binding. But be vigilant when doing this to make absolutely sure you have 100% cotton sheets and a thread count you'll be happy with.

[KDCat]

Okay, that's a lot of work.

If you want a less labor intensive project, you could turn them into tote bags/grocery bags. That just involves some cutting and some quick seams.

http://www.instructables.com/id/FAST...HIRT-TOTE-BAG/