What Condition Do My T-shirt Need to Be In for a T-shirt Quilt?

We get questions about what condition a T-shirts needs to be in to used in a quilt. "Can this T-shirt be used in a quilt?"

Here are a number of questions and our answers. Generally, the answer will be “yes, we can use it!” You need to answer, "should I use it?"

T-shirts With Holes

Holes should not be a concern when you are deciding if you want to use a particular T-shirt in your quilt. We have seen T-shirts with everything from pinholes to gaping holes. 

These blocks are repaired before we put them in your quilt. The blocks with small pinholes are backed with another piece of T-shirt material. Then the hole is glued with special fabric glue. T-shirts with larger holes are backed with another piece of T-shirt material. We will then sew around the hole and glue the edge.

We repair the holes, but that does not mean that the hole has gone away. They are just repaired.

Do you want to use such a T-shirt in your quilt? That is totally up to you. If it is a favorite shirt with great memories, I would say to use it.  Ask yourself, “Does the T-shirt mean more than the holes in the T-shirt?” If so, go ahead and use it.

Below are two examples of T-shirts that had holes in them. This is how we fixed them.

Old and/or Thin T-shirt

Some of the best T-shirts are old and thin! That’s because we love them so much. And yes, we can use them in your quilt.

Other T-shirts come thin. Have you seen T-shirts called burnout? These have thin and thick spots throughout the shirt. 

We place a piece of new T-shirt material behind these T-shirts. This keeps the quilt soft while giving the thin T-shirt a little extra thickness.

You most likely won’t be able to tell that there is another piece of T-shirt material behind the block. If at some point the thin T-shirt wears even thinner or develops a hole, there will be another piece of material you will see and not the batting.

Should you use you thin T-shirts? Yes.

Planning a T-shirt quilt?
Here are step-by-step directions for ordering your Too Cool T-shirt quilt.

T-shirt with Cracking or Faded Graphics

Yes, you can still use it in your quilt.  But as with holes, putting the faded or cracking block in the quilt will not magically make the faded T-shirt not faded.

It will remain faded and will continue to fade over time. Although, T-shirt quilts are not washed as often as you may have washed your favorite T-shirt. This means the fading will slow down. 

Should you use the faded T-shirt? Yes, if it tells part of the story you are putting into your quilt. No, if you can’t remember what it said and it was not an important T-shirt.   

Name Letters Are Falling Off

This mostly happens when a name has been added to a T-shirt. Yes, we can use that T-shirt in your quilt. But the letters will continue to fall off.

We try to iron on letters back on. If that fails to work, then when we quilt that block, we will either trace the letters so when they totally fall off, you will still be able to read it. Other times we will trace through the letter to sewn them down. 

If this shirt is very important, I would encourage you to include it in your quilt. If something else in your stack of T-shirts says the same thing, I would leave it off.

A Design Is Peeling Off a T-shirt

I have found that paint on some cheap tourist T-shirts falls off.

I have some T-shirts that you can no longer even tell what the design was.

If the paint is falling off now, it will continue to fall off. And there isn’t much we can do here to fix it.

The other issue is the location where they T-shirt may have been printed. If it wasn't in a developed country and the paint that is falling off, the paint might contain lead or some other toxic ingredients. 

Unless it is a very important T-shirt, my suggestion would to be to leave it out.

Already Cut T-shirt

Yes, we can use T-shirts that have already been cut. No problem. You are not the only person that has T-shirt pieces. This happens all the time, so you are in good company. 

Whether you or someone started to make a quilt or if you just cut the logos out for the sake of storage, those pieces can go into your quilt.  

In the quilt below, all the blocks had been already cut when we received them. This is a great example of how they can be used and how they can look. 

Here's more about already cut T-shirts. 

Conclusion

Yes, we can make just about any scrap of material work in a quilt. Scraps of material are what quilts are all about! I hope this helps you determine if you can or should use a T-shirt in your quilt. 

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