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Hi there—welcome to my first blog post! I became an empty-nester a few years ago and did a major purge of old furniture and miscellaneous crap, but the things I haven't been able to let go of are the memories—box after box of my kids' artwork, toys, T-shirts, books, and more. There's some pretty fun stuff from my childhood as well. I’m a self-employed photographer and designer, and I was a single mom for much of my kids’ upbringing, so there’s been a lot going on. I haven’t had the time or bandwidth to go through it all. My youngest just graduated from college, and I feel like I’m finally in a place where I can take it on. 😅 I know there are many buried treasures, and I want to figure out the best way to give them new life where they can be seen and enjoyed. Blogging will hold me accountable for making progress, and maybe I’ll inspire others to pull out the dusty old boxes and make some fun stuff.
I decided to tackle all the old sentimental T-shirts first. I always knew I would have T-shirt quilts made. I used Project Repat and could not have been happier with the results! Use this form to order at a discounted price!
I threw all the shirts in the wash and then laid each on a white foam board on the floor to snap a photo before cutting the front from the back (Project Repat emails detailed instructions on preparing and mailing the shirts). I wanted pictures to show fun things to make other than quilts, which you’ll see later in this post.
Make yourself cozy for the cutting process — it takes a while. I sat on the couch and watched a movie while Moe (my very ill-behaved chihuahua mix) placed himself right in the middle of things.
After cutting, you’ll pack up the number of T-shirt sides corresponding to the size of quilt you purchase (I went with large throws), buy the shipping label, and send them on their way. Project Repat's website reads a turnaround time of 5–7 weeks before you’ll receive the quilts, which was how long it took to get mine.
When placing your order, you'll choose the quilt backing fleece color. I went with navy and light blue. I allowed Project Repat to arrange the T-shirts in the order they thought would look best, but you can pay a fee to arrange them however you want.
And here they are! My kids were shocked that I managed to hang on to so many of their shirts and jerseys from preschool to college. Now they can snuggle up in all those memories.
If adding another quilt to your collection is not in the cards for you, you can do other fun things.
Grab a stretched canvas (I used one I already had, but here's an example of what you need). Choose a size that will work best for your shirt. Stick the canvas inside the T-shirt. Pull it tightly around the back and secure it with a staple gun along the frame.
Hang your masterpiece on the wall. It would be awesome to fill a whole wall with these in a kid's or game room.
Another option is to make a print using the images you captured earlier. I created the one below after removing the background from each of the photos, creating a collage print, and then placing it into a 20"x 30" white frame (I did all this background removal and collage magic in Photoshop, but these tasks can also be done on Canva, Fotor, and other similar platforms). If you have a special sports jersey you'd prefer not to cut up for a quilt and would prefer to display, this jersey frame would be a great choice.
Or make a photo book of your sentimental T-shirts and display it on a bookshelf or nightstand.
Go pull out your old T-shirts and make something awesome! xx Kasandra
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