How to Make a T-Shirt Quilt: Preparing the Shirts

Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you click on them and buy something, you don’t pay any extra but I may receive a small referral commission.

How I Reuse My Old T-shirt Quilts To Make A Quilt

Today, I am going to show you how I prepare a T-shirt to put into a quilt.

First, get your iron and press the shirt to get out any wrinkles. I use parchment paper underneath so that any of the adhesive from the interfacing doesn’t get onto my quilting board. If I was going to do it face up, I would also have a layer of parchment paper on the top so that no sticky residue would go onto my iron either.

Press Interfacing to Shirt

The interfacing has a shiny and a matte side. The shiny side is where the adhesive is and this will go face down onto the T-shirt.

I like to start in the middle and let the iron press and hold for a bit to let the glue activate. Move the iron from the center and out. Set your iron to a cotton setting. I prefer to use steam but the choice is yours.

Hint: Use distilled to avoid lime build-up in your iron if you have hard water where you live.

Interfacing adhered to the t-shirt

I let the adhesive adhere and then check the ends to make sure it’s on there well. Since it is an expensive product, I used the end pieces to make a full piece to avoid waste.

The Interfacing Makes The Shirt Stiff

Now the shirt is nice and stiff. When I lift it up it’s more like a piece of paper and not stretchy. The added structure makes it easier to work with.

And that is how you prepare a t-shirt. In my next tutorial I will show you how to add sashing pieces to the quilt top.

I also created a video of this tutorial:

Share This Post

Elizabeth Ruth

Elizabeth Ruth

Elizabeth is a children's book author and designer of knit and crochet character hats under the brand The Ruthless Crafter. In her spare time she loves to read, watch movies, spend time with her family, and swim. She lives a full, happy life in Kitchener, Ontario with her husband and their two children.

You May Also Enjoy...

Send a Comment

Your email address will not be published.