trif

Okay, so I have the big "S" on my forhead that says stupid! I agreed to make a t-shirt quilt using jersey's, it's for a lady at my work, wants her sons sports jerseys made into quilt. This is a scarry project for me, why I said yes I will never know. I'm so worried I will ruin the jerseys. So I have researched the boards topics,lots of info on T-shirts but not jerseys. Has anyone used jerseys before? Do I use lightweight heat n bond for a stabilizer? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

SuzzyQ

Try "googling" Instructions + t-shirt quilt.
Basically you cut apart the jerseys and iron on light non-woven interfacing to keep them from stretching for whatever logos, etc you need for the quilt. Be very careful as some of the lettering will melt, so remember to use a good press cloth to protect them (and when pressing blocks).
Otherwise they usually handle well and should make a nice soft quilt. You can use the plainer parts of the jerseys for borders or spacer blocks.
If you have a jersey that is a mesh you can try to match the colour in broadcloth or cotton and fuse that together.
These are lots of fun to make.

trif

Thanks for the input. I did go to Internet and do a search but again it's all geared toward t-shirt material. So I appreciate your advise. Am I wrong to use heat n bond? Is there a better interfacing to use?

SuzzyQ

I just used the lightest nonwoven interfacing I could when I made my daughter's quilt. You just want to keep the fabric from stretching. Otherwise I suspect jersey should handle fairly easily. Experiment a bit with a few scraps from a shirt or two.

geckogirl

When my mom used my brother's jerseys she fused them to white cotton fabric and then treated it like a regular tshirt quilt :-)

Prism99

Test any stabilizer on a scrap piece of Jersey first. Some of them will stiffen the hand too much. Nylon tricot iron-on interfacing is what I have used for silks; it has a soft hand.

Also, I'm wondering if Jersey will melt under a hot iron, making an iron-on stabilizer inadvisable. If it does, you might want to experiment with heavy starching instead. Mix a 1:1 solution of Sta-Flo liquid laundry starch and water, brush it on until the fabric is saturated, then dry on a line. Should require minimal ironing to get creases out. This might stiffen the jersey enough to cut and sew without ironing on a stabilizer.

If neither of the above works, you might have to do paper foundation piecing or iron on freezer paper. (Freezer paper does not require as much heat as iron-on interfacing.)

With any of these techniques, make the pieces as large as possible so you don't drive yourself crazy.

trif

Thanks for all the advise. I can't wait to start this project, so I can get it over with! I'm hopeful that it will be a good learning experience, in a positive way. I'm suppose to receive the jerseys this Wednesday. Big huge "S" (stupid stupid) I should stick with the fun quilts, but I always think something new might be exciting, it could be fun. Maybe I will like doing this process, you just never know.