How sad is that? The constant hunching over and cutting really got to me. And you know what the first thing I said to my husband was? “I thought that was a fat people problem.” But he assured me, it’s just a getting older problem. I stopped podcasting about Vampire Diaries a couple of weeks ago to allow me to have free time to do other things (like blogging and perusing my creative endeavors). I’ve been pretty on the move lately, but I try to make at least one thing every Sunday. First I started with Kindle cases:
And then I thought I would tackle my biggest project to date: a t-shirt blanket.
You see, I’m trying to take back my closet. I’ve been donating boatloads of clothes to Goodwill because I simply can’t fit them anymore. But I quickly learned that I have a lot of t-shirts and most of them I didn’t want to throw away. They hold memories, Ole Miss memories. I can’t think about throwing out an Ole Miss t-shirt. In fact, it was kind of hard for me to cut a couple of these suckers to make a blanket. But I did for the love of keeping the shirts, just not in my closet…and it was the best thing I could have done. Now I can keep the blanket with all of those memories.
There are a few things I learned from this project that I would like to share with everyone because I like to make lists.
1. Hunching over for long or even short periods of time will do a number on your back. I really should have done my work at the kitchen table that was level with my seat instead of hunching over the guest bed doing this. Now I have a huge annoyance (pain) in my life. *I call it an annoyance because I have a very high threshold for pain and people aren’t use to hearing me complain about pain…so it must be really hurting now. But the thing is, it’s not really hurting me, it’s just annoying me. I can’t stand it.
2. You want to make a t-shirt blanket? Well then you’re going to need a lot of interfacing. And even if you think you have enough, it’s best to get a little extra. I went through A LOT of interfacing. Thank goodness the stuff is only fifty cents a yard. But I felt so legit when I went to the fabric store to get more interfacing because I ran out and the lady cutting the fabric commented on how much I was using. I told her what I was making and she said, “Enough said. I’ve been there. Are you sure you’re getting enough?” I felt like at the moment I was being induced into the craft lady club and I was pleased.
3. I made my blanket out of 25 shirts and I still have more. Do you think I have too many shirts from Ole Miss days that I couldn’t part with? I might have an Ole Miss problem if I’m holding on to the t-shirts for the memories. Especially since I really didn’t want to cut my Ole Miss Band shirt and the Harvard of the South shirt. It was a very emotional experience for me.
4. The sewing is not what takes so long with this project. It’s the prep. Cutting the t-shirts, fusing the interfacing on…and then you can finally get the the sewing. I spent more time cutting and fusing than actual sewing.
But it’s finished now and I love it! Well worth the time, effort and the annoyance.
Granted I envisioned it looking different. I had also tripped the front pockets off all the shirt ans I was going to use those in a border. But when I finally got to the sewing part, I decided two things: 1. I wanted to get this project done because I had been working on it all day. Plus my back was really hurting. and 2. The blanket turned out way bigger than I expected which is fine.
The border would have made the blanket even bigger and there would have been more fabric to cut. I just decided to end it at this, which is fine for a nice casual blanket. I’m really pleased with the outcome and I think it looks great. Not so bad for someone who taught herself to sew and only made pillows and really dinky looking blankets. It’s my biggest sewing success so far!
Tagged as:
blanket,
Ole Miss,
sewing,
t-shirts
