Here’s the thing about crazy quilts. They were all the rage in the 1880s. And many of them were made from a kit that came with all sorts of little cuts of different fabrics. The ones that were home generated took years to decades of saving a single piece of new fabric from other sewing projects, and trading with friends for more scraps. But they weren’t made of recycled fabric. The amount of work to make that kind of quilting masterpiece was recognized even by our thrifty ancestors.
Recycling fabric is great if you want to made a small quilt. But once we live in fabric, it’s no longer flat. Even doing all your piecing one a giant table will not rectify that. My advice is to take fabric only from the least stressed areas (mid thigh and lower calf for pants) and discarding anything within an inch of any seam. Even with this, your going to struggle. Very loose garments like nightgowns might be an exception, but you are better off cutting across and incorporating any seams than ripping them. And if the fabric is worn, you have to back it to make it stay flat before piecing. I know it’s not what you want to hear. But a quilt like you are describing could take a couple of hundred hours of work, and deserves to last more than worn out fabric will give it.
Now if you want a use for all your old flannel PJs and other older fabric, make giant shapes and do quilted curtains for the yurt. It uses up some of your stash, and for curtains, flat is less critical. And you can overlap the “squares” to take up any odd bends of the fabric.
Sorry to be discouraging. But your labor and success is valuable. I just don’t want you to go down the road I’ve been on. Quilting and clothes making are very different skills. I don’t do much of either right now, but I much prefer figuring out how to make flat fabric (or remake from another garment) a tailored shaped costume than try to make already bent fabric hold a flat shape.
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Date: 2019-02-12 01:31 am (UTC)Recycling fabric is great if you want to made a small quilt. But once we live in fabric, it’s no longer flat. Even doing all your piecing one a giant table will not rectify that. My advice is to take fabric only from the least stressed areas (mid thigh and lower calf for pants) and discarding anything within an inch of any seam. Even with this, your going to struggle. Very loose garments like nightgowns might be an exception, but you are better off cutting across and incorporating any seams than ripping them. And if the fabric is worn, you have to back it to make it stay flat before piecing. I know it’s not what you want to hear. But a quilt like you are describing could take a couple of hundred hours of work, and deserves to last more than worn out fabric will give it.
Now if you want a use for all your old flannel PJs and other older fabric, make giant shapes and do quilted curtains for the yurt. It uses up some of your stash, and for curtains, flat is less critical. And you can overlap the “squares” to take up any odd bends of the fabric.
Sorry to be discouraging. But your labor and success is valuable. I just don’t want you to go down the road I’ve been on. Quilting and clothes making are very different skills. I don’t do much of either right now, but I much prefer figuring out how to make flat fabric (or remake from another garment) a tailored shaped costume than try to make already bent fabric hold a flat shape.