Tee Shirt Quilt - I'm a newbie
 

Hiya, I am planning a tee shirt quilt for my parents of their old Harley Davidson tee shirts. My mother-in-law has helped with quilt ideas before but I'd like a more specific question answered. I need to buy the interfacing for the tee shirts but I don't know what weight to buy. My mother-in-law said not a heavy one, but that doesn't help me. There a lot of options; medium weight, featherweight, so-soft, etc. Suggestions?

My parents are plannig on using the quilt as display only, but I'd like it to be soft enough for use should they ever want to use it too. Thanks again. K

The best interfacing to use for T-shirts is the iron-on tricot. It's lightweight which makes it easy to quilt through and if you apply it so the stretch on the interfacing is perpendicular to the stretch on the T-shirts, it really helps to keep the blocks from distorting. You can get it at JoAnns and lots of places on line.

You just need enough stabilization that the fabric doesn't stretch when you are sewing. The lighest weight is the softest! :)

Ok! Thanks. I am going to go to Hobby Lobby and see what they have. It's closer than JoAnns. LOL. Thanks!

What do you mean "stretch on interfacing?" Do you mean the grain? Thanks.

The tricot is knit just like the t-shirts. Stretch each shirt (gently!) to see which way is 'stretchier'. When you fuse the tricot on the back, if the shirt is stretchier up and down, make sure the extra stretch of the tricot goes back and forth. Clear as mud? It just helps stablized the knit, so it does NOT stretch. (gee..how many times did I type 'stretch'!!?? lolol)

you want a lightweight interfacing- the t-shirts are plenty heavy- the interfacing is to keep the fabric from stretching while you work with them. a fusable lightweight tricot is pretty (available) and inexpensive.

I have been folowing this thread for a while too so I will continue to get suggestions from all the great members here.

I use the Pellon Fusible Featherweight 911FF - I always wait until I get a 50% off coupon from Hobby Lobby or Joanns and then buy a full bolt.

I have found the fusible nylon tricot to add quite a bit of weight and thickness. Haven't tried it, but I'm wondering if MistyFuse would be better. Requires slightly different handling because MistyFuse doesn't have a paper backing (I would just use parchment paper when fusing it to the t-shirt fabric). I think it's Bearisgray who uses MistyFuse on the backs of regular quilt tops to fuse to batting. If MistyFuse would do the job, it would be a lot thinner and softer than nylon tricot.