T-shirt quilt for a friend…

So a dear friend of mine was telling me how she had all of the shirts from her sorority.  It’s been over 30 years since she pledged.  So I decided to make her a T-shirt quilt with some of them.  

Well I started on this last year, and “life” got in the way.  But I finally got it done!  Tomorrow it gets shipped out tot he east coast.  

I found a African wax print that went perfect with the pink and green colors.  The blocks on either end of the center t-shirt were made with the logo from several polo shirts: 

I decided I needed to put some type of label on it.  At first I thought I’d embroider a label on my embroidery machine.  But that was going to take to long.  So I decided to print one on my computer.  I purchased some photo fabric from a local store.  

I used Microsoft Word to generate the label and printed it on my printer.  I even soaked it in water to ensure that it was permanent.  And it was!!!!  I left a 1/2” border around it, which I tucked under and hand stitched in place

I’m hoping she likes it.  

Happy Sewing !!!!

 

Ankara African Fabric and M6706 Skirt

I’ve had this African print fabric in my stash for about a year now.  I purchased this print about a year ago from the Hancock fabrics here in Denver, CO.  It was on the clearance table for $2/yard.  Can you believe it! 

Ankara fabric from Hancock

I've had this skirt pattern for some time, and new this would be just the right fabric.

McCall skirt 6706

 

 

Line Drawing

This skirt also has a petticoat that goes underneath it that gives it that "full" look when worn.


Petticoat (View F): 
I had some green tulle that I had purchased back in March from Joann's fabric for ~$2.00 a yard from the Joann's clearance table.  Why did I purchase it?  Because it was on sale!

That tulle with a piece of black cotton for the yoke portion of the petticoat was all I needed.  

I added 6 inches to the overall length of the ruffled portion of the petticoat so that the petticoat is only about 6 inches shorter than the actual skirt.  Since I was using a tulle that didn't ravel, I just did a tiny zigzag along the raw edges of tulling.

Finished Petticoat

SKIRT (view D):
I added my usual length to the skirt (6 Inches).  Next, I also widened the waist band so that it is a finished width of 3 inches. and I also  put some buckram into the waist band as I wanted it to stand tall.

I cut the pattern out on the cross-grain so that I could keep from having a seam down the center front.

I did a rolled hem of 5/8" and hand stitched it; rather than topstitching (I didn't want the threads to disrupt the fabric design).  I also used a standard metal zipper using the centered lapped zipper insertion method  (Craftsy has a free class on mini-zipper installation if you are interested here).  Since the zipper is tucked in the center-back pleats, its can't be seen.

I love this skirt.  The pleats fall wonderfully over the petticoat. The petticoat truly makes a difference in how the skirt wears.

The one thing I would change would be add pockets at the side seams.

Every fabric and notion that was used in the making of this skirt was already in my stash.

Happy Sewing everyone. . . . .