Any tips for making a quilt from old baby clothes?

[Geneva C.]

I've been saving my children's clothes that were too stained or sentimental to give away with the intention to make a quilt from them one day.

I just put added a few items to the collection yesterday and had trouble getting the drawer to close, so I think it's time to get started.

Almost all of the clothes are knits, and I've never tried to quilt with anything like that before, so I'm a little nervous. Besides just being super careful not to stretch anything as I sew, does anyone have advice for quilting with knits, or old clothes?

Thanks for any advice.

[Geneva C.]

Having made several t-shirt quilts and several memory quilts from old clothes, the thing you'll want to do is to stabilize the knits and any worn clothing with a fusible interfacing. This will help keep them from stretching when you sew them together.

I saw a quilt once where the quilter had used her mother's blouses and dresses and she sewed them onto foundation squares. That way she was able to use the neck with pretty little collars and she left the button fronts right on. It was darling. You could try that too.

2 of the memory quilts I've made used appliques of the clothing onto muslin. It was a sort-of Irish chain pattern and in the large open areas, we appliqued stars and hearts of the clothing. I've submitted a story about these quilts, so watch for it! Hope this helps.

There are severa books about memory quilts and they might contain some tips for you to use. Nancy in NY

[Geneva C.]

Thanks so much. I've heard the term 'memory quilt' before but I didn't know what it meant. Wonderful. I'll look for books.

[Sandy F.]

I have two quilts in my profile that I made for a friend at work using her children's cloths. When I told her I would like to make a quilt from their clothing I was expecting cottons but she brought me bags of knits, jeans, and cordoroy. I appliqued the knits to foundation blocks and futher stabilized with decorative stitching. The dinosaur's on the Dinosaur Quilt were made from cordoroy pants and the Cat's and Dogs were made from knit tops. The kids love the quilts.

[Sandy F.]

Sandy - your quilts are amazing. My daughter would go nuts for that dinosaur quilt. Thanks for sharing those.

I think I need to look at some books, and pull the clothes out and really think about what elements of them I want to include.

You've both given me a lot to think about how to tackle this. Thank you.

[Sandy F.]

Think coloring books and there are several free coloring pages online. They make wonderful patterns.

[Joan J.]

This is great thread! My boys are 24, 22, and 19 (picture in my profile!) and I have a big plastic tub of baby clothes! I gave away most of their little t-shirts before I started quilting, but you can bet once I heard of t-shirt quilts I started saving them! Now to put them all together somehow! Thanks everyone for ideas! I've also saved crib sheets and those little flannel type receiving blankets!
Joan

[Joan J.]

Well, I thought I'd pop back in and show off my first baby clothes block. I decided I wanted a more traditional looking quilt, but I have so many clothes that I may have enough for a second one later on. If I do, I think I'd like to try an applique quilt. Plus my girls are still small, so I have plenty more clothes to collect over the coming years if I want more.

Thanks again.

see-quilts/show-and-tell-quilts/

[Joan J.]

Kara, the link didn't work for me but I went to your profile and found it! It is very cute! Your children will cherish it!
Joan