How to Make a Bedspread From T-Shirts

Turn old T-shirts into a memory quilt for your bed.

Old T-shirts represent cherished memories from life events. However, they tend to take up space in drawers, having too much sentimental value to part with, but too little fashionability to wear. Turning old T-shirts into a bedspread or quilt makes your memories into something useful. It is not difficult to create a bedspread out of T-shirts, and they make excellent gifts for graduates and other loved ones.

Things You'll Need

• T-shirts (16 adult shirts for a 60-inch square)
• Non-woven fusible interfacing
• Sewing machine
• Measuring tape
• Scissors or rotary cutter
• Quilt batting (optional)
• Piece of polar fleece or flannel large enough to serve as backing
• Fabric for sashing (optional)
• Strong thread for tying the quilt
• Basting tape (optional)

Instructions

1. Wash and dry the T-shirts. Do not use fabric softener. Prepare your interfacing as per the package instructions. Interfacing is a web-like material that, when ironed onto fabric, reinforces its stretch so that it can be cut. Find interfacing at most craft stores.

2. Plan the layout of your quilt. The simplest layout is to cut your T-shirts into 14-inch-by-14-inch squares and sew them together, but you easily can use other layouts by using sashing if you have quilting skills.

3. Iron the T-shirts. Measure an inch larger than you intend the finished squares to be. Mark the measurements on the T-shirt with chalk, pencil or pen and cut.

4. Follow the instructions for your interfacing and iron it onto the back of the T-shirt pieces. Measure and mark the desired size on the stabilized T-shirt and cut carefully.

5. Stitch 1/8 inch around the edges of each block if you are not using sashing to further stabilize the block.

6. Lay the blocks out on the floor or table in the desired pattern. Carefully pin the pieces together in rows of two.

7. Sew a 1/4-inch or 1/2-inch seam along one row. Press the seam open or to the side. Do the same with the other rows.

8. Pin completed rows together and sew as in Step 7 until the blocks are all sewn together as desired.

9. Iron the backing if using cotton. Lay it flat, wrong side up. If you are using batting, lay the batting on top of the backing. Lay the finished T-shirt piece on top of the batting, right side up. Your quilt should now look as intended. Pin the layers together and tack using a contrasting thread. Sew the backing and T-shirts together around the outer edges. If desired, cover edges with satin ribbon, basting tape or fabric, and sew.

10. Tie the quilt pieces together using a needle and strong thread. If the bedspread will see heavy use, make sure the ties are close together and evenly spaced. One tie every two inches will give you a strong, long-lasting quilt. You can hide the ties by tying on the backing side, or you can make them decorative on the front by using buttons or textured thread or yarn. You could also hand-quilt as an alternative to tying.

References

• Quilt Bug: Making a Quilt Out of T-Shirts
• Quilting 101: How to Tie a Quilt