If you're like me, you have a ton of t-shirts that are kicking around that you never wear, but you can't bear the thought of letting them go. One way to save them while actually making use of them is to sew them into a t-shirt blanket. There are a lot of great tutorials online and books available with information on sewing t-shirt quilts and blankets. One book that I highly recommend is Generation T.
This is a pattern I came up with when I realized that the t-shirts I had available couldn't be cut to even sizes without losing some of the logos. It's a fairly easy pattern that could be finished in a weekend at most. Cutting the t-shirts will take the longest.
I did run into a small technical issue while I was working on this tutorial. My serger died. I don't know what I did before having a serger. I'm thinking that I'll be finding out in the upcoming weeks. So, unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish the sample that I had planned.
What You'll Need
1. Cut your t-shirts apart, separating the neck and sleeves from the body. Then separate the front from the back along the seams.
2. Decide how wide each strip will be and begin cutting your pieces from the t-shirts. I cut my pieces 12 inches wide. If you aren't worried about everything being squared, the length can vary per piece. At the end, you will even up the edges of the blanket.
3. Once all squares are cut apart, lay the pieces out in strips, like the picture below.
4. With your serger or sewing machine (or by hand if you have more patience than I do), sew each long strip together. To make it easier, pin each piece together with water soluble stabilizer to keep the material from stretching and puckering as you sew it. Whether you have the seams facing in or out is totally up to you.
5. Once each long strip is sewn, pin the strips together and sew them. If you sewed the strips on a sewing machine, I recommend opening the seams when you reach them. If you used a serger, just serge right over the seam and the serger will finish the edge.
6. If you any uneven edges, measure the shortest strip and square off the edge using a rotary cutter or scissors.
7. To finish the edges, I simply ran them through the serger. The edges could easily be finished other ways, like fringing or binding. Let your blanket and your personal style guide you!
8. If you used water soluble stabilizer, wash your blanket to remove it.
That's it! Simple, quick and useful, my t-shirt blanket has come to be an absolute necessity in my house when it's too warm for a quilt but cool enough to have a little something on me at night. I've made one for my godson and I've started collecting shirts for a Queen size blanket. Hopefully by then, my serger will be working again.
If you make this, let me know! I'd love to see how your blankets turn out. Til next time!
-Erika
This is a pattern I came up with when I realized that the t-shirts I had available couldn't be cut to even sizes without losing some of the logos. It's a fairly easy pattern that could be finished in a weekend at most. Cutting the t-shirts will take the longest.
I did run into a small technical issue while I was working on this tutorial. My serger died. I don't know what I did before having a serger. I'm thinking that I'll be finding out in the upcoming weeks. So, unfortunately, I wasn't able to finish the sample that I had planned.
What You'll Need
- 10-15 t-shirts (you may need more or less depending on how large you want the blanket to be)
- Fabric shears
- Rotary cutter and rotary mat (not necessary but it makes squaring off easier)
- Ruler or tape measure
- Thread in a coordinating colour
- Water soluble stabilizer
1. Cut your t-shirts apart, separating the neck and sleeves from the body. Then separate the front from the back along the seams.
2. Decide how wide each strip will be and begin cutting your pieces from the t-shirts. I cut my pieces 12 inches wide. If you aren't worried about everything being squared, the length can vary per piece. At the end, you will even up the edges of the blanket.
3. Once all squares are cut apart, lay the pieces out in strips, like the picture below.
4. With your serger or sewing machine (or by hand if you have more patience than I do), sew each long strip together. To make it easier, pin each piece together with water soluble stabilizer to keep the material from stretching and puckering as you sew it. Whether you have the seams facing in or out is totally up to you.
5. Once each long strip is sewn, pin the strips together and sew them. If you sewed the strips on a sewing machine, I recommend opening the seams when you reach them. If you used a serger, just serge right over the seam and the serger will finish the edge.
6. If you any uneven edges, measure the shortest strip and square off the edge using a rotary cutter or scissors.
7. To finish the edges, I simply ran them through the serger. The edges could easily be finished other ways, like fringing or binding. Let your blanket and your personal style guide you!
8. If you used water soluble stabilizer, wash your blanket to remove it.
That's it! Simple, quick and useful, my t-shirt blanket has come to be an absolute necessity in my house when it's too warm for a quilt but cool enough to have a little something on me at night. I've made one for my godson and I've started collecting shirts for a Queen size blanket. Hopefully by then, my serger will be working again.
If you make this, let me know! I'd love to see how your blankets turn out. Til next time!
-Erika
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