Old Tee Shirts?

[heathenmom]

I have FINALLY convinced my dh & my niece to get rid of some of their old tee shirts. DH had 50+ in the closet and DN's collection rivaled his. : Anyway, I'm wondering if there's anything I can *do* with these shirts. I desperately need some mama pads, but have no idea if cotton knit would work. If they wouldn't work for that, what else would they be good for, besides the trash or the rag bin?

FYI, I've never made pads before and my sewing skills are basic at best.

[bdavis337]

I wouldn't use them for mama cloth, you'd need a lot of layers to make anything more than a panty liner type pad. But, if you knit, you can cut them into thin strips and knit things with them. What else? You could use them to make flat diapers - see the fern and faerie website for details on that. You could also use them to line a knit or crocheted purse. Cut wide strips, sew into a tube and use sewing elastic to make hair scrunchies. If you have some that you like yourself, cut the sleeves off an old long-sleeve shirt, sew them onto the t-shirt sleeves and make yourself a brand new, long-sleeve shirt. Make a pillowcase - I had an old college tee that didn't fit properly, so I cut the body into a square, sewed it together wrong-side out and then stuffed a pillow form into it. You could do the same by sewing all 4 sides wrong side and just leaving a small opening to stuff with fiber fill or something, and then stitch the remaining closed by hand.

Maybe cull out the ones still in good shape and donate them to a local homeless shelter or the like.

[crochetmama]

You can make a quilt from them. Cut them into squares that are the same size (utilizing the design/logos as wanted) and sew them together. Or do them different sizes and make it a truley "crazy" quilt. Then just get an old sheet to do the backing (or get new fabric) batting (if desired), and qult (or tie) together. You can also toss in some Jeans fabric (aka old jeans cut up) too!

Hugs,
tammy

[heathenmom]

Originally Posted by crochetmama

You can make a quilt from them. Cut them into squares that are the same size (utilizing the design/logos as wanted) and sew them together. Or do them different sizes and make it a truley "crazy" quilt. Then just get an old sheet to do the backing (or get new fabric) batting (if desired), and qult (or tie) together. You can also toss in some Jeans fabric (aka old jeans cut up) too!

Hugs,
tammy

I LOVE this idea, esp. with the jeans worked into the design!!! Thanks so much for suggesting it. I'll see if I can make it happen ...

[MamaBug]

:

I was going to suggest that too. I am in the process of saving all of my boys special tees, either from school, sports, places we visited and their favorite jeans. When they go off to college I hope to make a quilt out of these things for them

[mehndi mama]

Diapers, wipes, household cloths (unpaper towels), FBW's (bathroom wipes), YES mama pads.....there's all sorts of things you can do with 'em

I've got the free diaper pattern in my sig.
For wipes, use 2 layers & sew them together around the edge. No serging necessary, if you don't have a serger - they won't unravel.
For FBW's, do 4-5 layers, 4"x6" Wash them like you would diapers. With the diapers, if you're still diapering.

For mama pads, make your snaparound piece with about 4 layers. Use your favorite pattern - Kristin's pattern will work, I think. Don't add any inernal soaker layers - just make the body a flat 4 layers. Then make a foldable soaker with 4 layers - you'll sew it to the pad body so that when you fold in the edges, you'll have twelve layers there. Hang on & I'll see if I have a pic or diagram to show you what I'm talking about....

[mehndi mama]

Okay, here's the diagram for sewing the soaker folder onto the body, and here's a pic of one finished & folded. HTH

[mehndi mama]

Oh, I forgot my shopping bag instructions.

turn the shirt inside out & sew across the bottom to close. Then cut off the sleeves, leaving about an inch of sleeve fabric & the seam. Then cut off the neck, again leaving the sleeve seam. The opening cut from the neckhole is the opening of the bag, and the armholes become the handle holes. The sleeve seams become the handles.

[be11ydancer]

http://www.crispina.com/2005retail/cottonbasic.html

I'm saving up old t-shirts to turn into one of these quilts. Isn't it beautiful? If you want to do a t-shirt quilt like that, I bet you could use some Rit dye to get a gorgeous color scheme.

[Ruthla]

I recently saw a link to a "t-shirt quilt." the front was panels of different t-shirts (cut into squares) and the back was made from sweatshirt fleece- and I assume cotton, wool, or poly batting in the middle.

[Tummy]

Love this thread, great ideas!

[heathenmom]

Originally Posted by mehndi mama

Oh, I forgot my shopping bag instructions.

turn the shirt inside out & sew across the bottom to close. Then cut off the sleeves, leaving about an inch of sleeve fabric & the seam. Then cut off the neck, again leaving the sleeve seam. The opening cut from the neckhole is the opening of the bag, and the armholes become the handle holes. The sleeve seams become the handles.

This sounds so neat! I've been wanted to buy some Ecobags (there's an open co-op), but it'd be even better if I could just make my own. I have one concern, though ... do the store employees give you flack about using them?


Many years ago, I lived in a small town and went without a car for several months. I walked EVERYWHERE. If I needed to carry groceries home, I brought my backpack and put them in there ... not while shopping, but when I was paying for my purchases. I had a couple of store managers get VERY nasty with me and insisted that I could not have a backpack in the store. : I'm just afraid I'll go to the trouble of making my super-cool shopping bags and the stores won't let me use them. What do you think?

[bdavis337]

Well, I use my large canvas bags at Walmart, and aside from getting funny looks, nobody has ever said I can't!

[mehndi mama]

I can't imagine a store giving you grief for bringing your own shopping bags! It's not going to be like a backpack, or anything - more like a bunch of totes stuffed into one, like any eco-shopper bag would do. They're much more commonplace now, I think.

The only downside to the t-shirt totes is that they stretch. So they're not the greatest for heavy groceries. But for kids toys, overnight bags, sorting bags, beach bags....they're great.

[heathenmom]

Originally Posted by mehndi mama

The only downside to the t-shirt totes is that they stretch. So they're not the greatest for heavy groceries. But for kids toys, overnight bags, sorting bags, beach bags....they're great.

I could see the stretchiness becoming a problem ... I wonder if doubling them up would help?

[bdavis337]

I just did this with a sweatshirt this afternoon! It worked great, and I came up with a no-sew option for the waistband, b/c I don't own a machine and I really, really dislike to do much more than replace a lost button. I did cut the top opening a bit too large, but it still works. For the waistband/bag bottom I just cut slits about 2 inches long, like you would to make one of those easy fleece blankets, and then tied the strips together! We're using it for a swim lessons bag, perfect to toss in the dryer if it gets soaking wet. Wouldn't work if you wanted to tote small stuff, b/c it might slip through the small holes in the base, but for larger stuff it works great and I even made the handles long enough to slip over my shoulder. How fun, and I got to save the sweatshirt!!

If you have a "girlie" sweatshirt in a small size, you could do this and put fringe on the bottom of it for a tote or purse.

[goosysmom]

I made a quilt a few years back out of all the concert t's I had that I just couldn't part with...why, I don't know....I have sooo many tees and I honestly don't know how I aquire them....

I have also made one out of my friends dd's special things she didn't want to sell or pack up to store...it's sooo pretty....

When I was little my mom sewed some of our sweatshirts together (we were around 3 or 4 I think) to make a pillow for us...she stuffed the whole thing, arms too and sewed the neck closed, the bottom closed and sewed the sleeve cuffs to the bottom back hem...We could wear it like a backpack and play..I found mine in the attic the other day..Man, I loved that thing.....

[slov_mom]

Gianna, that sounds great!

Originally Posted by goosysmom

When I was little my mom sewed some of our sweatshirts together (we were around 3 or 4 I think) to make a pillow for us...she stuffed the whole thing, arms too and sewed the neck closed, the bottom closed and sewed the sleeve cuffs to the bottom back hem...We could wear it like a backpack and play..I found mine in the attic the other day..Man, I loved that thing.....

I *love* this idea! Could you take a picture? I'd love to see it.

Allison

[be11ydancer]

I was looking through a book at the book store the other day called "Alterknits". They had cut a bunch of t-shirts into 1/2 inch strips and made a big ball of "yarn" from it. Then, knitted them together on size 19 needles and it turned into this gorgeous, cotton rug. They lined it with bias tape. It looked fantastic.

[Ellien C]

I saw a magazine where they created a simple loom (like those old potholder looms) from wood and nails. The t-shirts were cut into loops and used like pot-holder loops. If you have alot that are the same size - like your husbands you could weave them into rugs - but you'd need to make the loom.

You can also crotchet them if you don't want to knit them.