Monday, December 19, 2011

mini t-shirt blanket

Just in time for Christmas I was able to finish a little blanket I had been working on for my daughter. My hubby always goes on and on about how much he loves t-shirt blankets so I got the idea to make a mini t-shirt blanket out of some of my old blouses and t-shirts. The finished measurements ended up being about 44 by 41 inches.
Start by gathering all of your old shirts and pick out the cute ones. Then cut out the sleeves, neck, etc. so that you have a flat scrap of material. Then use a rotary blade to cut them all into nice rectangles. It doesn't matter the length of each rectangle, but you need to cut each of them out using the same height measurement.
Next lay all your rectangles out to figure out the best pattern. Don't worry if some rows are longer than others, it is easiest to cut them to size after you've sewed everything together.
Now start sewing. Sew the t-shirts into rows (I have 4) and then sew the rows together. When you are finished, cut the rectangle of t-shirts so that all of the edges are even if needed. Now cut out a piece of batting and a piece of cute cotton material the same size as your t-shirt piece and layer the material right sides together and then the batting on top of that. Pin together and sew around all the edges leaving an opening for turning. Trim the corners and turn right side out. At this point you could hand-sew the opening closed or machine sew around the entire blanket to close the turning hole.
Finally, finish off with some yarn or embroidery floss ties. I did mine about every 3 inches which I marked with a pen first to easily know where to place each tie. Also I had a hard time pulling the yarn through my blanket until I started using a much bigger needle. Then it was easily done.
I think she is going to love this blanket. It is so cozy and beautiful.

5 comments:

  1. I like your idea of making a quilt out of your old clothing articles. I am currently making one for my grandson from my sons clothes. He died this past summer. I thought it would be nice to remember his father by using his clothes to make a quilt. I am also making a photo quilt wall hanging for my grand daughter who misses her uncle. Would it be better to make smaller squares or bigger ones. I am not sure what size is good for doing this.

    Thank you, Maxine krankymax@hotmail.com

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  2. Great idea! Obviously approved by your dog and enjoyed by your daughter. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Maxine, How sweet of you to make a blanket for your grandson. I am sure he is going to love to have that reminder of his father.
    For the size of the squares I prefer to make mine as big as possible especially if the t-shirts are printed with wording or other designs. If the shirts are solid and you think that it would be more significant to fit as many t-shirts on the blanket as possible, small squares would work great too. Also keep in mind that it will probably be less time-consuming to do a few big squares rather than a ton of little ones. Hope this helps and happy sewing!

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  4. Thank you for the idea. Just had our first child and was planning on using all her baby clothes from her first year to make her a quilt. I am a first time quilter and I hope this will work. Wish me luck!!

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    1. I love that idea. She will LOVE that blanket when she gets older. Good luck with your quilt I am sure it will turn out great.

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