Yesterday, I prepared T-shirts for making a quilt with the help of the Hemline Gold 45mm Rotary Cutter and the Heirloom Double Sided Cutting Mat – 24″ x 36″ (61 x 91.4cm). I started by cutting off the sleeves, the shoulders and the side seams of each T-shirt. I separated the front and the back of the T-shirt.
Hemline Gold 45mm Rotary Cutter on the Heirloom double-sided cutting mat
Today with the help of the Heirloom Double Sided Cutting Mat – 24″ x 36″ (61 x 91.4cm) and my Oliso Pro TG1600 Pro Plus Smart Iron, I’ll explain how to cut the designs from T-shirts to make usable squares or rectangles like these.
Quilt square and rectangle cut from T-shirts
After you press the T-shirts, it’s time to start cutting.
Note: The unfinished squares for this quilt will be 12½” x 12½” and the rectangles will measure 6½” x 12½”.
My process for making a quilt out of T-shirts is a bit different from making a quilt using quilting cotton. Please read the entire post before starting.
When you cut a T-shirt, the edges will roll a little or a lot. To help with that, I start with the Sew Easy Square Ruler – 151⁄2″ x 151⁄2″ (39.3 x 39.3cm). The first square I cut is always larger than what I’ll use in the quilt; that’s because of the curling of the edges of the fabric and centering.
Center the 15½” x 15½” ruler on the T-shirt.
Cut a 15½” x 15½” square.
After the ruler is in place, cut along all four sides.
Cut on all four sides of the ruler.
When the T-shirt design is wide and narrow, I measure it using the Sew Easy Quilting Ruler – 14″ x 41⁄4″ (35.6 x 10.8cm) to ensure it’s less than 6” tall.
Measure to ensure the height falls within the desired size.
Place the 15½” x 15½” ruler on the T-shirt and center and cut a rectangle measuring 8¼” x 15½”.
Place the ruler on the T-shirt to cut an 8½” x 15½” rectangle.
After all the squares and rectangles are cut from the T-shirts, it’s time to move on to the HeatnBond Woven Fusible Interfacing.
Why the need for interfacing? Because T-shirt fabric stretches and the edges curl, using interfacing stops the stretching and curling to make sewing the squares together a lot easier.
Cut 14½” x 14½” squares and 7½” x 14½” rectangles. The quantities needed for each will depend on how you cut the T-shirts. For my quilt, I need 12 squares and eight rectangles.
Cutting a 14½” x 14½” square form HeatnBond interfacing
Center the 14½” x 14½” HeatnBond squares and 7½” x 14½” rectangles on the wrong sides of the T-shirt squares and rectangles. Following the HeatnBond directions, press into place.
Press the interfacing to the back of the T-shirt.
After all the HeatnBond interfacing pieces are pressed into place, center the Sew Easy Square Ruler – 121⁄2″ x 121⁄2″ on the front of the T-shirts and cut them into 12½” x 12½” squares and 6½” x 12½” rectangles.
Cut squares and rectangles.
With all the squares and rectangles cut, today’s work is done. These three rulers made it quick and easy, and are must-haves for any studio.
Sew Easy Square Ruler – 121⁄2″ x 121⁄2″ (31.75 x 31.75cm)
Sew Easy Square Ruler – 151⁄2″ x 151⁄2″ (39.3 x 39.3cm)
Sew Easy Quilting Ruler – 14″ x 41⁄4″ (35.6 x 10.8cm)
The Sew Easy 121⁄2″ x 121⁄2″, 151⁄2″ x 151⁄2″ and 14″ x 41⁄4″ rulers
Tomorrow the quilt top comes together. Join me!
This is part 2 of 5 in this series
Go back to part 1: Making a quilt starts with choosing the right tools
Go to part 3: Pinning a quilt – It’s the little things that count