How to Recycle Old Clothes into a Quilt
Making your own quilt out of old clothes is an age-old tradition for many people in many different cultures. Fabric is valuable and should be preserved. Antique quilts can be quite valuable and rare. Create your own family heirloom with extra clothing that you no longer wear.
Materials
- Sewing machine (optional)
- Sewing supplies
- Scissors
- Paper and Pencil
- Yarn from an old sweater
Method
- Look for old clothes at thrift stores, estate sales and garage sales that you can use to make the design for your quilt.
- Sew strips of fabric together to form a piece of quilted cloth. Cut cloth against the bias in the opposite direction. Sew the strips of material back together to create a patchwork pattern composed of squares. Use the squares to make the blanket.
- Design a quilt using software available online or by using a piece of graph paper. Select a quilt design book or pattern that is simple to follow if this is your first quilt.
- Cut all of the material into usable pieces of cloth. This means removing the tags, all of the inseams, any embellishments, zippers or anything that cannot easily be sewn. Use a seam ripper to remove any visible threads. Iron the materials so that they are easier to cut, pin and sew.
- Arrange the colors, textures and styles of cloth into shapes so that you can gain insight into the colors and style of the quilt.
- Consider making a simple tie quilt if you do not have a sewing machine. After both sides of the quilt and made lace yarn through every other square to bind the two sides together without having to sew the entire inside of the quilt.