quilt from old clothes

[cheery]

ANyone actually made a quilt from old clothes? Or made anything useful from old clothes.

I am getting stuck at step one, because for old clothes to have sentimental value AND be no longer wearable, the cloth must be in weak shape - torn / frayed usually.

These are the clothes I have gathered in a bag after decluttering. I could cut them up and use for cleaning the house, but looking at them I wondered if there was some way to use them more artfully? Of course I remembered the old fashioned tradition of using old clothes to make quilts, but most of the quilts I have ever seen are actually made of new cloth, perfectly matched, etc. Does anyone actually make quilts of old clothes filled with memories, etc ... and if so HOW to do it?

Hoping you genius seamstresses have some tricks to share ...

[Tjej]

Oh sure, I've done it. I personally just cut the fabric into squares and sew it together in a random-ish pattern. My mom calls them "crazy quilts". I then do my quilting randomly as well.

I am very very far from a genius seamstress. I just sew by the seat of my pants. I get bored with being exact with measurements, so I don't know if I can even pretend to be a "quilter". BUT we do have a couple of fun blankets we use on our bed that have memories.

It is true that the fabric is older, and I have had an issue with the backing of my one going threadbare not that long after I sewed it - BUT it was just a little patch, so I put a patch over it and made a pocket there for fun.

So if you have the time and energy, have at 'er. I know after my last one my DD said, "it looks nice, but we already have blankets, don't we?" and I realized that we do and that my time could have been better spent elsewhere... So anyway, it all just depends on what is a priority for you.

Tjej

[cappuccinosmom]

What she said.

I have done a few mini quilts with old clothes. One was with denim, and turned out so nice. The other was from two old skirts and a shirt. I cut out a square template from cardboard, and then used that to mark the blocks on the fabric. I just cut the squares from what was useable, and tossed the rest. In stead of "real" quilting I just zig-zag stitched along all the piecing seams. My youngest loves it.

Someone made a quilt from some of my brother's old onesies and he still cherishes that thing (at 24).

I think because they have sentimental value, the "patchy" look will make them beautiful. Some fancy schmancy art-quilts are downright ugly, after all. It's all about what pleases your eye, and when you see those mis-matched blocks all put together in a cozy quilt, they'll be beautiful because you'll be seeing the memories as well.

[just__angel]

Ooooh! I just watched the best youtube vid on making rag rugs with old fabrics!
Kids and I will be cutting this week so we can give it a try ;-)

[velcromom]

I use clothing to sew up other things a lot. My ds pretty much ruins his shirts, but there is usually some useable fabric in the back and the upper sleeves. If you have a piece that is sentimental, but really trashed, you could use small pieces of it to add an applique to a quilt block made from something else.

Also, if you want to use a piece that is just really thin, I think I've seen instructions somewhere for using a fusible product to line it with muslin or whatever to stabilize it so it is sewable.

[texmati]

I just made a bunch of pj's for my son out of shirts that I've *ahem* outgrown. I've had trouble finding plain, knit pants for him now that he's out grown the 12 months size; but I'm not ready for him to be wearing jeans etc. I figure I can 'charge' at least 4 bucks a pair to make up money I've spend on other craft endeavors.

Only one shirt had any sentimental value, and I saw dh using it to clean up puke the other day, so I'm not sure if it's a 'keepsake' project.

[texmati]

I used this tute to make the pants. However-- the shirts that I'm using are much smaller, and I'm trying to make size 24 mos pants. So instead of using the side seam as the 'fold'. I fold the shirts in half and use that fold as the fold for the pants, and only cut once to get both sides. That way I'm not limited in using the fabric only below where the sleeve starts. I can use all the fabric up to the neckline of the shirt.

Pj's are the easiest thing to make next to pillows. And unlike a quilt, you don't really have to worry about wear and tear, because they'll get outgrown in a season or two.

[sept04mama]

Buy some WOVEN interfacing and iron it to the back of any fabric that is thin or made of knit or other stretchy fabric- that should do it!