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Q&A
By Gena Bloemendaal
I'm trying to preserve my old, sentimental T-shirts by making a quilt. How do I stabilize the stretchy knit fabric?
Amanda W.,
e-mail
When making a T-shirt quilt, it's essential to stabilize the knit fabric in order to prevent the knit from distorting while stitching and when the quilt is in use.
Cut out the T-shirt motifs 2" larger all around than your finished block size. Use a rotary cutter and mat for accuracy. Make sure not to stretch the fabric while cutting.
Cut light- to mediumweight nonwoven fusible interfacing to the finished block size. Place the motif right side down on an ironing board. Press any wrinkles and make sure the motif isn't distorted.
Center the interfacing resin-side down over the T-shirt motif wrong side. Fuse, following the manufacturer's instructions. Use downward pressure, a hot iron and a moist press cloth. Don't move the iron back and forth. Doing so will cause the T-shirt fabric to stretch and distort and the interfacing to bubble.
Trim the blocks to the desired size, and then construct the quilt according to
the pattern.
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