Photo of t-shirt with ruler and rotary cutter
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How to Stabilize T-Shirts for T-Shirt Quilting

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PHoto of t-shirt with cutting ruler and rotary cutter

One reason we all love wearing t-shirts is because they are made from such soft, stretchy knit fabric. When it comes to making t-shirt quilts, though, their stretchiness poses a problem. The same give that makes t-shirts so comfortable also makes them get distorted and wonky if you sew them without preparing them in advance. Being a lazy quilter, I have actually tried this, and the end result isn’t pretty.

That’s why you need to stabilize your shirts before you use them in a quilt or any other sewing project. You do this by applying a fusible backing to the t-shirt fabric. The backing helps the shirt hold its shape while you cut and sew it. The softer and more worn a t-shirt is, the more it needs stabilizing before you try to sew with it.

Steps in T-Shirt Quilting

Making a t-shirt quilt involves four steps:

  1. Deciding on a design.
  2. Getting the shirts ready to quilt.
  3. Sewing the quilt top together.
  4. Quilting and finishing the completed quilt top.

This post covers Step 2, how to prepare the shirts for t-shirt quilting.

Supply List

Here’s what you will need:

  • Light-weight, iron-on interfacing such as Pellon 911FF featherweight or Therm-o-Web Heat’n Bond. Either woven or non-woven interfacing will work fine.blank
    Interfacing update from reader Sandy Shula: “Just from my own personal experience, I like to use Pellon P44F for colored T’s and 911 FF on very thin, polyester, or white shirts. I found the SF101 to add too much weight on larger quilts and it bubbled on me after washing. This also saves on interfacing cost since there can be a lot of waste depending on the size of your shirt blocks.”
  • A press cloth you can dampen for pressing the fusible interfacing to the t-shirts.
  • Rotary cutter
  • Steam iron
  • Ironing board or ironing surface

Step by Step Stabilizing Instructions

  1. Use a rotary cutter to cut the t-shirt up both sides, along the shoulder seams, just below the neck band, and above the hem.Try to leave plenty of room around the image for open space and seam allowances.If you plan to cut a lot of t-shirts into the same shape, you may want to make a cardboard template that is the size and shape you want.  That will speed up the cutting.blank
  2. Cut a square of stabilizer just a touch smaller than the cut t-shirt. I cut my interfacing a bit smaller instead of exactly the same size as the t-shirt so I don’t accidentally melt glue onto my iron when I press them together.
  3. Lay the image part of the t-shirt on your ironing surface, right side down. blank
  4. Lay the stabilizer square with its glue side (the rougher side) of the interfacing against the reverse side of the t-shirt image.  Update from reader Marilyn, who has made many t-shirt quilts and taught t-shirt quilting: “Super Lightweight interfacing is great as it adds no bulk, but there is some stretch to it one-way. T-shirts stretch one way. To lock the stretch out and make the t-shirt stable like any other quilt fabric you need to turn the stretch of the interfacing opposite (90 degree) to the stretch of the t-shirt.” blank
  5. Cover the whole thing with a damp press cloth to avoid melting the inks or any rubberized parts of the t-shirt image. In the photo below, I just dampened a piece of cotton batting I had lying around. I have also used a purchased silicone pressing sheet and part of a t-shirt as press cloths. Photo of ironing interfacing to t-shirt with press cloth
  6. Read the interfacing manufacturer’s instructions to make sure you have the right temperature and steam settings before you put that hot iron on the interfacing. Because once you do that, you’re committed!
  7. Press the interfacing to the t-shirt. Use firm pressure and hold the iron steady for 10-15 seconds in each spot to make sure the interfacing and t-shirt are thoroughly fused together. Overlap the pressing areas to make sure you cover all parts of the image.
  8. Here’s what the stabilized t-shirt looks like with the interfacing fused to its back side. The t-shirt will now hold its shape as you sew, trim, and quilt it.Photo of t-shirt with interfacing pressed to back side

 

What if I Need A Bigger T-shirt Area?

The image on some t-shirts is very close to the neck band. Sometimes this doesn’t leave you enough room to make a quilt block as large as you want it to be. If this happens to you, consider cutting fabric from the bottom of the t-shirt, stabilizing it as shown above, and sewing the extra fabric to the area where you’re short. Sew the pieces with right sides together and use a 1/4″ quilter’s seam.

You can add extra fabric on the top of the image area, on the sides, or all around. When the quilt is complete, no one will ever notice!

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118 Comments

  1. Personally I just worry that the iron on interfacing – the lightest I can find – adheres to the t-shirt only till the quilt is finished. I figure it will be softer after the interfacing loosens. I’ve made several and have had no problem. I want them soft and cozy. Making two right now and planning on using the backs of the shirts as backing for the quilts. The recipients are both on the autism spectrum and I think they will like the weight.

  2. Hi,
    I understand I should wash the tee shirts and material before I start. My question is do I wash tee shirts before or after I fuse the tee shirt squares?

    Thanks, Laura

    1. Usually a tshirt or
      Sweatshirt quilt is made of memory shirts and have been
      Previously washed
      Several times. As long as they are
      Clean, prewash ing should not be nessary

  3. Hi! I already cut several of the t shirts into 12 1/2 inch squares. Is there a way to add interfacing to the blocks after they have already been cut? Thank you!

    1. Yes, just cut same-size pieces of interfacing (12-1/2″) and use a press cloth to fuse them to the backs of the t-shirts. Check the interfacing instructions before you do anything and be sure to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations. You can get into trouble if the interfacing is larger than the t-shirt because fusible might get stuck to your ironing board or iron’s bottom plate, but should be fine if you cut them the same size as the shirts themselves. Be careful about aligning everything before you press.

    2. Yes. Just cut the interfacing smaller than the already cut blocks and be sure not to stretch when pressing on

  4. I want to make a double-sided T-shirt quilt because I’ve saved most of my now grown kids t-shirts and want to use them all. I’ve always only done “ditch stitching” to quilt and I’ve never done any freestyle quilting. But with a double sided quilt and having blocks of different sizes, should I quilt just using a block pattern of every 6″ or so both vertically and horizontally? Would that look okay going through both sides? Of course if the quilt were going to be one sided, I would just ditch stitch but I’m not sure how to quilt a double sided where I know the seams on all blocks won’t match up front to back.

    1. Hi Gretta,

      I think if your blocks will be of different sizes, the best-looking way to quilt a double-sided quilt would be to use a large overall free-motion pattern, like loop-the-loops or a large meander. That way, you won’t run into the awkward situation of having quilting lines that are too close to the seam lines between the blocks. If you don’t feel confident doing this yourself, do you have a friend who could help you out? Or a long-armer who could do it for you?

      You didn’t ask this, but I feel compelled to add that I myself wouldn’t do a double-sided quilt, since t-shirts are fairly heavy and a double-sided quilt with a lot of shirts in it sounds quite heavy indeed. If you have a large number of t-shirts, how about doing two quilts?

      1. Hi Christine, I’ve never done any free motion quilting and I don’t want my kids’ T-shirt quilts to be where I try that….LOL. I had thought that maybe 2 quilts would be the way to avoid the issue with quilting lines on both sides. Plus I hadn’t really thought about the weight at all, so thank you for pointing that out. I’ll go at this with the “two nice quilts are better than one double-sided too-heavy” quilt thought! Thank you so much for your reply and help. Your instructions are so helpful and easy to follow.

        1. My friend did a double sided tshirt quilt for her grandson and it looked amazing! She made all 12inch squares and she tied the quilt every 4 inches rather than quilting.

    2. If it were me I would just quilt diagonal grid lines. No need to worry about matching anything to the quilt pattern.

  5. What are we doing wrong?? I am trying to help a friend make a T-shirt quilt for her husband. Cotton T-shirts, name brand stabilizer, (Pelon, light-weight iron-on) but we cannot get the stabilizer to adhere to the t-shirts. Followed all the directions that were given. I have never made a T-shirt quilt, but have used iron-on interfacing many times in sewing and never had this problem.

    1. Sorry to say that I have no idea what the problem is, Mary. I just used some lightweight Pellon interfacing to stabilize a bunch of cotton t-shirts and had no difficulties. Have you tried using a different batch of interfacing? If you have double-checked the instructions and are sure the iron is working properly, I would try using a different interfacing.

      1. Before you start your project, always wash T-Shirts without any softener in the wash and dry without any dryer sheets. This will help the stabilizer adhere to the shirt better.

    2. the adhesive won’t stick if you have used fabric softener when the t-shirts were washed. wash the t-shirts again and rinse with vinegar.

    3. Wash the tshirts but DO NOT use fabric softener or softener sheets. Fabric softener may interfere with the adherence of the stabilizer.

  6. I am making my first T-shirt quilt, it’s going to be a twin size and the lady I’m making it for would like a soft backing like fleece or fuzzy material. Have you ever done anything like that, or is it even possible to do, If so do you have any suggestions on how to do it without the backing getting wrinkles or bubbles?

  7. I’m making a t-shirt quilt. I put non-fusible stabilizer on each piece but they are not sticking. Directions called for Wool setting for 10-15 seconds with a damp cloth over it. It is amazing that none has stuck. The stabilizer sticks on regular cotton material. If it does not stick, is it okay to presume the top stitching will hold everything in place when it is done?

    1. Hi Gretchen, that’s hard to know. I guess it depends on how much top stitching you do. The more quilting you do over all parts of the t-shirt, the better the finished quilt will perform as it is used and washed. What kind of t-shirts are you working with? Cotton, or some other material?

    2. Non-fusible stabilizer will not stick. The non fusible is meant to be sewn in, not ironed on. Try a fusible interfacing instead.

  8. What would be the best way to prepare athletic polyester mesh(has tiny holes) tank tops for a quilt.

    Thank you for any advice you can send me.

    Lois Ramaeker

    1. If you can see through the holes to the fabric behind, I would choose a woven quilt fabric that has a color which works well with the tank tops, then spray baste the tank top to the quilt fabric before sewing the tank tops. The woven fabric should help stabilize the stretchy fabric.

    2. Lois, I have used the fusible stabilizer on the mesh shirts the same as the other tees. It really doesn’t show through and they all sew together just fine.

  9. Thank you in advance, as I knew there was a trick to dojng a tshirt quilt, but wasn’t sure what it was. This will be very helpful.

  10. I’ve been reading and reading and reading so many things on the Internet about making a T-Shirt quilt and I have to compliment you on the concise comprehendability I found in your instructions and posts! You have so much helpful information, knowledge and experience and I’m hoping you can help me apply that to a project I’m undertaking for the first time! I want to make a quilt for a special baby in my life, using her onesies and some of the first outfits she wore. They all seem to be made of the same type of stretchy, cotton or cotton/blend type of fabric and I’ve NEVER worked with stabilizers or interfacings before so I’m unsure of what type, weight etc. to purchase! Also, I’m wondering if you or any of your readers have had experience attaching an ENTIRE onesie to a panel of quilting cotton fabric? Though I AM using squares from some of her onesies, I’d like the baby to see how TINY she was at one point in her life so there are 2 or 3 onesies that I don’t want to cut up. So, in an effort to be more concise myself, could you advise me about:
    1) How to stabilize and attach an entire onesie,(ie:double layer of T-Shirt material) to a piece of either flannel or quilting cotton fabric
    2) What type of stabilizer or interfacing I should use to make cutting and sewing the onesie squares easier and so they hold their shape after machine washing?
    Thank you so much for any help you can offer!

    1. Love your quilt idea, Steph. I haven’t made a quilt with baby clothes, but I know lots of New Quilters readers and other quilters have done exactly what you’re hoping to do. One thing you might do is search for baby memory quilts on Pinterest and see if you find any tutorials about the specific topic of preserving baby clothes on a quilt. Anyone who has experience with baby clothes, please chime in.

    2. Steph,
      I would suggest using some sort of applique technique to add the full onezies to the quilt. I’m not sure how well that would work, but it’s an option. Or maybe just cut out the back of the onezie and applique only the top of it to the quilt top. That would reduce the bulkiness of the onezie a little bit. Good luck! It sounds like a very cute idea.
      -Cindy

    3. I made a quilt that featured shirts from baby to college. So, yes, it included a onesie! I basically appliqued the onesie to a square leaving it open. The opening could be used for a card or special message when the gift of the quilt was given. You could definitely sew it down though.

  11. I have seen many inquiries regarding the interfacing and what might be a suitable substitute. I think that using a spray adhesive to attach the shirt to another layer of fabric will make it firmer, and it’s a whole lot easier & faster. I know that there are adhesives made for fabrics too.

    1. Yes, you can use basting spray or even a wash-away glue stick to adhere the shirt to another layer of fabric. I think the biggest issue is the heaviness of the fabric. Lightweight interfacing is very thin and light, and most fabrics I can think of as substitutes, even lightweight muslin, are heavier and would add substantially to the weight of the quilt.

    2. I am glad to see this comment about spray adhesive. I am making a tshirt Quilt as a donation in an auction for fundraising . Trying to keep cost under control for this reason . I plan to use good quality white cotton fabric to attach to back of tshirt fabric as I have it on hand. Iron on adhesive was going to be double the money. I hope this works . With that said will this get on my iron as I only have one good iron and do I need tp place another fabric (damp pressing cloth on top before pressing?
      Thank you in advance for any advice

  12. I’m making a T shirt quilt with some pretty worn shirts. Is there a way that I can also stabilize the printing on the front?
    Thanks

    1. The stabilizing fabric you add to the back of the t-shirt is intended to strengthen the fabric and reduce its stretchiness to make it easier to sew. Unfortunately, I don’t know of any way to make the image on the front of the shirt last longer.

    2. I have made many t-shirt quilts for a women’s basketball team. I get lots of worn t-shirts so I quilt (through all layers of the quilt sandwich) the individual t-shirt squares to further stabilize them. I follow the design, sometimes stitching between the letters, or I underline the main phrases with stitching, or sometimes I highlight the graphics. I don’t have a long arm quilting machine,but I am usually making quilts that are lap or twin size so they fit through my machine just fine. It can be very detailed and painstaking, but the results are worth it.

  13. I have made t-shirt quilts in the past and used a knitted interfacing with the stretch going perpendicular to the stretch of the t-shirt’s stretch which has given me a stable piece of fabric to use. I would say most of these t-shirts were either all cotton or a cotton/poly blend. My son is a runner and has amassed a quantity of “wicking” shirts (not sure if that’s the right term but they are super thin and are 100% polyester (and I’d describe as having a heavy nylon feel to them). Any suggestions on stabilizing these as I’m worried about the heat melting the t-shirt. I’m intrigued by using a damp cloth for protection (never done that!). So my current thought is teflon ironing sheet (to protect my ironing board when it all goes wrong), t-shirt, stabilizer and the damp cloth. I have plenty of backs to experiment with and would certainly do a trial but if you have and tips or hints I’m all ears! Thanks!

    1. Thanks for your comment, Karen. I have never worked with the kind of thin polyester shirts you describe, but I think you’re absolutely right to be concerned about excess heat. I HAVE used teflon ironing sheets and have found that they seem to bounce the heat back up into the item you’re ironing, which would make me worried when working with a heat-susceptible fabric like polyester. I wonder if protecting your ironing board with a wool pressing sheet would be a safer choice? Low heat and a damp cloth over the shirt seem like good ideas — you can’t go wrong with them. I wish I had some more brilliant suggestions!

      I wish you all the best on this project. Please come back and let us know how it went.

      1. Hi Karen,
        I have used the same stabilizer on the polyester material as the cotton shirts. I usually turn down the heat on the iron a bit and use the wool pressing mat. I’ve not had any problem adhering the stabilizer. Just do not touch the front of the shirt with the hot iron and all will be good!

    2. I have used the same stabilizer as the cotton/cotton-poly shirts and used a pressing cloth to prevent the hot iron coming in contact with the ‘silky’ material. Once stabilized, those shirt blocks blend well with the cotton shirt blocks when putting together the quilt.

  14. I have never made a t shirt quilt but have had several request. Thank you for this valuable instructin, I might try one now.

  15. I have purchased an old chenille bedspread that is just cute as a button!
    I want to USE IT AS OUR COVER ON THE BED. It has age problems, tears, loose stitching and weak fabric.
    Is there any way to FUSE a backing to it to make it one strong piece of material.
    This has no sentimental value and it was not expensive. I do not want to
    a restoration, Im hoping for a “USEation” LOL. After all what good is it doing at Goodwill.

    1. Yes, you could fuse a backing onto the top. It would be a big job and require quite a bit of fusible web. Here’s what I would do: get a large sheet (flannel or cotton) that is at least as big as the bedspread. Trim it to the size of the bedspread or slightly bigger. Buy a roll of lightweight fusible web and iron it in strips to the back of the sheet. Then iron the bedspread to the fused sheet, working a small section at a time. I would also stitch the two layers together after fusing, going all around the outside of the bedspread at a minimum and maybe stitching a few other lines across the body of the bedspread to keep them from coming apart as they are used and washed. Good luck, Barbara!

  16. Is it ok to cut the tshrit, use the stabilizer and let them set till I’m ready to put them together. A kind of getting things ready as the T-shirt’s are available?

    1. Deb,
      We have literally made 1,000’s of t-shirt quilts. Our process is to ‘rough cut’ the t-shirts (as we might want to use BOTH sides of the tees), THEN we add a 100% cotton WOVEN fusible to the back of the shirt then size to an exact 14.5″ square. We put the prepped shirts in their project box, and it gets in the queue to be pieced. This means that the stabilized shirts are sitting there from anywhere of a day to a couple of weeks before being pieced. So, no worries about it staying stuck! We are in Houston, so humidity is an issue, and don’t have any problems.

      Note to the folks having trouble with any of the fusibles adhering to the back of the shirts. We use a professional iron press that allows us to apply the fusible in 3 seconds. We have the temp set to 275 degrees. Your domestic iron may not be hot enough to adhere. Personally, I think the wool setting is a protection from the vendor to make sure you don’t burn the shirt.

      Add a squirt of water to the top, and apply the iron for about 30 seconds. Keeping in mind that you are doing this from the BACKSIDE of the shirt. If ironing the front of the shirt you are likely to melt the paint/ink and make smears.

      Betty
      T-Shirt Quilts of Texas
      http://www.TShirtQuiltsTX.com

  17. This makes sense and I think I’ll give it a try. Kids seem to outgrown their tees so fast, that a quilt would be perfect use of those shirts, and make great memories too.

  18. When making a T-shirt quilt, could backs of the T-shirts be pieced together and work as a backing of quilt? This would make the quilt reversible in a sense.

    1. Yes, of course you could piece the t-shirt backs together. Backed with stabilizer, a t-shirt back should be perfectly good for machine quilting, etc. My only concern would be that two layers of t-shirts would make quite a heavy quilt. Some people like that heaviness, and others (me!) don’t like it as well. It’s a question of preferences.

      1. Plus, consider all the seams where you’ve joined the t-shirts to make the back big enough, plus the stretchiness of all those pieces. I don’t think that would be easy to quilt nicely.

  19. Hi Mary,

    I have to preface this reply by saying that I have never made a quillow, but fleece is very durable and I think it would work fine for this purpose. My only concern would be about wear to the t-shirts themselves. I wouldn’t do this with a shirt that is truly precious to you or the recipient, because it will get worn just like your previous quillows did. If you’re okay with the t-shirts being subject to regular use and washing, I think t-shirts would make for a very comfortable quillow. T-shirt fabric is designed to be worn next to the skin.

  20. My sons are interested in quillows–and have given me some of their t-shirts for t-shirt quilt. I have purchased some stabilizer (hopefully the right kind) for the t-shirts. Do you think it would work to make them into t-shirt quillows with fleece for the non-t-shirt sides? I have made quillows in the past (they’re worn out so need new ones), but not t-shirt quilts although both my sisters are into quilting and could probably help if I go to their homes (500+ miles away).

    1. Hi Marilyn,

      If the t-shirt is made from a knit fabric, you should use a stabilizer to counteract the stretchiness of a knit. If the t-shirt is woven and not stretchy, you can probably do without a stabilizer unless the fabric is very thin. A stabilizer will give some durability to a thin and fragile fabric.

      1. What I was wondering if the sashing between blocks also needs to be stabilized with lightweight interfacing as well as the blocks.

    2. What I was wondering is if you need to stabilize the sashing between the t shirt blocks as well as the blocks.

  21. I’m a newbie to quilting but my husbands baby sister past and my mother in laws has asked me to make a Tahiti quilt using all of my late SIL shirts she received during her years of marathon running. So my question is how, or what is the best way to attempt to quilt the Tahiti quilt using a regular sewing machine? I’ve been reading blogs for months now and it always seems to be the little details that I need info on that more experiences sewing period already know and see as mundane to repatriate. Tshitt quilts are tricky and I can’t mess up on this one since there is a limited amount of her shirts. Not to mention I can’t find a place who does long arms commercially without having to send the quilt out to. Any advice, tips, or tricks would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advanced.

    1. Thanks for writing, Shellea. I need to make sure of a couple of things before trying to answer your question. I was not familiar with Tahiti quilts. When I looked them up online, it looks like they are applique quilts like Hawaiian quilts. Is that right? Also, the shirts you want to use for your quilt are t-shirts, and not woven shirts?

    2. Sorry I’m not exactly what site I ended up on I’ve been reading so many on pintrist. The t shirts I’m using are regular plan tshirts but I’m wanting to make it purely by using my home sewing machine including the quilting aspect of that. I understand how a long arm works but that’s not in the budget for me nor is there one anywhere where I’m from. The little steps from all the other tshirt quilt blogs leave those tiny steps out.
      •wash and prepare my shirts after choosing a pattern, batting, and backing material.
      •use templates to cup tshirts
      •apply stabilizer, allowing extra
      •sew shirts together as you would a regular quilt top
      •apply batting, or use disable batting
      •lay your tshirt top, batting, & backing together. *several different ways to stack if your using fleece, or a sheet or your choosing.
      ——but this next step is where I’m not finding a lot of information on. How do you quilt the layers together using a home machine. I’ve seen how others roll the layers and start from the center when they are sewing in the “ditch”, but how else can you quilt it together using your machine if you didn’t want t “ditch” method? Please correct any mistakes I’ve made in my thought process and I thank you for your time.

      1. Hi Shellea,

        Obviously you’ve done your research. Your list of steps makes perfect sense to me.

        It can be challenging to quilt a large quilt on your home sewing machine, especially if the throat area of your machine (the distance between the needle and the motor area on the right side of the machine) is small. You can find quite a few helpful videos on the web about quilting large quilts on a small home sewing machine. I liked this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI_V9Pdk-70. You can find many tutorials by searching “machine quilting large quilt on home machine.”

        You say that you don’t want to stitch in the ditch, but I would always recommend starting your machine quilting with stitching the quilt in the ditch, at a minimum stitching the seams between blocks, even if you want to do fancier machine quilting later. Stitching in the ditch secures the quilt’s layers together and frees you to do whatever other quilting you would like to do afterwards without worrying about shifting layers or sewing over safety pins.

        Since you haven’t done this kind of machine quilting before, I’d recommend doing the machine quilting as simply as you can. Straight lines are the easiest to sew. If you try anything more involved, such as a stipple or any overall free-motion pattern, make a practice quilt sandwich and sew on that for a few minutes at the beginning of each session before you start quilting on the top itself. That will help you get in the groove of quilting so you can do your best work on the precious quilt.

        Best of luck to you, Shellea. I know the quilt will be a beloved heirloom.

        1. I appreciate all your help! I apologize for my typos, that’s what I get for replying from my phone. Thank you for correcting my thought process on the “ditch” method. I think I’m over thinking things but want to truly express my gratitude for your time & help. I’ll let y’all know how it turns out.

    3. I am getting ready to make a t-shirt quilt for my husband. I have made only one before. I did it as a quilt as you go. Because it is to hard to quit a big quit. That way it is already quilted when you done. Than just bind it. 12 shirts 3across 4down. Just a idea, I’m going to look up ideas, weather I should wash them.

  22. All this information has been so very helpful. I’ve not actually started yet, but I hope the new year will bring lots of quilting time my way! I have never done this before, but I have big plans. I have already gathered T’s for my kids, my hubby, and myself. 🙂 I also am thinking that making a smaller, wall type of quilt will be a great fund raiser for our marching band. Every year, the kids get t-shirts with the name of the show. I am going to ask about and see if band parents have extras they would be willing to donate. Once the quilt is done, it could be auctioned off at the end of the year banquet. Wish me luck! Perhaps I’m just a bit toooooooooo ambitious . Does anyone out there have recommendations for the best place(s) to get the stabilizer in bulk? I used to purchase things with coupons at my local Hancock Fabrics, but they have all gone under now.
    Thanks again………..and Happy Holidays to all.
    Cheers,
    Stacy

    1. We’ll wish for your 2017 to be your best quilting year ever, Stacy. Love your ideas for fundraising quilts. As for buying in bulk, you could try Joann.com or any of the big online fabric retailers like fabric.com. Happy quilting!

  23. I’m a quilter who hates waste! Yes, with t-shirt quilts it is necessary to use a stabilizer because without it the edges of the shirts will curl and make sewing much more difficult. I have found cutting the shirts first makes the stabilizing process easier. Rough cut the shirt design with several inches of extra space beyond your finished size (my favorite tshirt quilts are made of various block sizes so you can utilize fronts, backs, and even sleeve emblems). Now rough cut your stabilizer to approximately the correct size and adhere it to your shirt back. Be sure your stabilizer extends slightly beyond where you’ll be cutting. Hint: Don’t be afraid to piece together the stabilizer, just don’t overlap. Then make a nice neat accurate block using your rotary cutter and template. You’ll love the beautiful stack of neat blocks at the end of this process!

    1. Thanks for this helpful advice, Michelle. I’ve gotten similar advice from a couple of other quilters, and I think I need to modify the article to reflect the cut-first, stabilize-second sequence.

    1. Hi Jo,

      I would still put a stabilizer on after cutting the shirts. Just cut the stabilizer into the same size pieces as the shirts, then iron on the back side of the shirt. The stretchier your shirts are, the more the stabilizer will help you when you sew the quilt together.

  24. Will this method also work on jerseys? I need to make a quilt out of my granddaughters soccer jerseys. She will graduate from college next spring and has played soccer since she was 4.

    1. Hi Kay,

      Yes, it should work on jerseys made from knit fabric. Any knits should be stabilized before you quilt with them. Most woven fabric is less stretchy than knits and may not need to be stabilized. The main difference I can think of between a regular t-shirt and a soccer jersey is that the jersey is probably made from somewhat heavier fabric, so you will want to give some thought to ways to make sure the quilt doesn’t end up being too heavy. I recommend using polyester fleece backing in that situation, because fleece is light, colorful, and machine washable.

  25. Hi, I want to make a rag t-shirt quilt. How would I use a stabilizer to do this without it showing when I sew the pieces together? Do you have any other suggestions for making a rag quilt?

    1. Hi Sandy,

      Thanks for taking the time to ask a question. If you use stabilizer on the back of a t-shirt, it will show in the seam allowance when you sew the quilt together. This isn’t necessarily a problem. I think it can look great to have multiple layers of color in the ragged seam allowances on a rag quilt. Another possibility is to make the stabilizer stop short of the seam allowance, so it doesn’t show through on the top of the quilt. This might cause problems when you sew the shirts together, because the part of the shirt that is not stabilized will tend to stretch when you sew it. You could also frame the stabilized t-shirt blocks with an outer border of quilt fabric, so the stabilizer will be buried between the t-shirt and the backing layer. If you have more rag quilt questions, I (modestly) recommend my book, Rag Quilting for Beginners, which has 45 five-star reviews on Amazon.com. It covers all the basics of rag quilting, and is available in paperback, and as an ebook in Kindle, Nook, Ibook, and Kobo formats.

  26. I love this method and the fact that your explanation is clear and understandable. And may I say, the fact that you are willing to share your knowledge without us having to pay for it. Are there free interesting more modern patterns from you where I can find them? Im living in Windhoek, capital of Namibia, in Africa, and to order patterns are too expensive with the crazy exchange rates. Greetings from Namibia. Marika Swanepoel

    1. Thanks for your kind words, Marika. There are hundreds or even thousands of free patterns out there online — if I wanted to find modern quilt patterns, I would just do a search for “modern quilt pattern” and do some looking around on the websites that come up. You can also find many, many free quilt patterns on Pinterest.com. I hope it is available in Namibia.

    1. I think you’re asking if I have instructions for sewing and finishing a t-shirt quilt, and the answer is that t-shirt quilt instructions are on my to-do list, but not done yet. Stay tuned.

  27. You have mentioned both batting and backing: please clarify for me; warmth is not an issue, so do I use only polyester fleece for the backing?

    1. Thanks for the question, Joan. I often use one layer of polyester fleece that serves as the quilt’s backing layer and also provides warmth, replacing the batting layer. Many other quilters use a middle layer of batting and a back layer of cotton or flannel for their quilts. For t-shirt quilts, which tend to be rather heavy, I especially like polyester fleece. But it is rather thick and warm, so if you are quilting for someone who lives in a hot climate, you may want to dispense with the batting layer and just back the quilt with a single layer of quilter’s cotton or flannel. Do prewash if you use flannel.

      1. Thanks, Felicity, for commenting on my question of batting and/or backing for a T-shirt quilt. Like the idea of reducing the weigh with polyester fleece, because they are very heavy, indeed.

  28. Thanks for all of the information.
    I noticed that you state, woven or non-woven interfacing is fine. I know nothing about interfacings. Could you explain the difference between the two? Advantages and disadvantages of each type, please? I heard that some can be very stiff and I really do not want that. Thanks again!
    Cheers,
    Stacy

      1. Hi Felicity, I make T-shirts quilts quite often. My go to interfacing is the Shape flex 101. I like to cut the shirts apart, up the sides, through the the sleeves and across the shoulders before I start stabilizing. This works the best for me, especially if I may be using both the front and back if the shirt. I do pre shrink the stabilizer by running it through a warm water rice and spin and hang to dry before I use it for a t-shirt quilt. This doesn’t effect the fuse of the stabilizer at all.

        1. Making a T-Shirt quilt for a birthday present for a boy. Mom saved many sports shirts from years. The shirts are of a nylon fabric and have lots of polyester in them. Having difficulty attaching pelon. Do you have any suggestions? Any other products besides pelon ?

          1. Karen, you might try spray basting (or even pin basting) a nylon shirt to a piece of cotton fabric in a color that looks good where it shows through the openings in the shirt fabric, then stitching the two layers together to make them a mini-quilt-sandwich that you can use as a quilt block.

            Christine

      2. Well I’m glad I came up with a good one! 😉
        I will check out your post. I feel so special.
        Appreciate all the input here and your web site.
        Cheers!
        Stacy

  29. You are really making it difficult. Cut out the shapes from your shirts, they will probably be the same size. Cut out the interfacing. Iron interfacing to the block. I have made almost 20 of these.

  30. Do you use any batting in t-shirt quilts? Mine will be twin bed size. Backing is cotton fabric. Do you quilt or tie?

    1. Thanks for asking, Judy. You have brought up one of the big disadvantages of t-shirt quilts — they tend to be heavy, especially if you include a batting layer. Especially for a bed quilt, I would dispense with the backing layer and back the quilt top with a layer of polyester fleece. If you really want to use a backing layer, the main question is how warm you want the quilt to be. If warmth is important, I would put in a layer of polyester or wool batting. Cotton batting tends to be quite heavy and not very warm. If warmth isn’t important, I think you could do without the batting.

      Re quilting vs. tying, I always quilt the layers with my sewing machine. But that’s just me. Tying is perfectly good. Just make sure you space your ties closely enough together to keep the quilt layers from shifting during use and washing.

  31. Did you wash the t-shirts first? If so, did you use softener or just dry and press the shirt before you applied the interfacing? Thank you.

    1. Thanks for the question, Peg. I work with clean t-shirts, but I don’t wash them for the usual reasons people prewash fabric before quilting with it. The t-shirts that go into a t-shirt quilt have typically been worn many times and won’t shrink or bleed dye on other parts of the quilt. I never use fabric softener, so I can’t say whether using it might affect the adhesive power of the fusible glue on the interfacing. I would guess not, but that’s just a guess. Does anyone else have a better answer for Peg?

    2. They need to be washed to remove the sizing. I have not had issues with the ones washed with fabric softener. But if I am washing them for a quilt, I do not use fabric softener.

    1. Hi, Meg.

      Yes, the quilt is still soft enough to use on a bed, since t-shirts are quite soft. The more layers you have, the heavier the quilt becomes. That’s the main thing to be aware of when making t-shirt quilts, in my humble opinion.

    1. Making a T-Shirt quilt for a birthday present for a boy. Mom saved many sports shirts from years. The shirts are of a nylon fabric and have lots of polyester in them. Having difficulty attaching pelon. Do you have any suggestions? Any other products besides pelon ?

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