How would you make a quilt with cotton jersey?
I thought of using Wonder Under, but since it's double sided fusing, I would have to have three layers (the cotton jersey, wonder under, and another layer of misc. fabric backing). I am making a quilt out of old clothes made of cotton jersey. Any ideas to stabilize the jersey stretch?
Assuming you mean t-shirt material:
Get some 505 (http://www.sprayandfix.com/505.html) spray or similar from June Tailor (http://www.junetailor.com) (you can get them at Joann’s or Hancock’s or similar)
Cut muslin pieces to match each shirt piece
Spray muslin, stick t-shirt to it, and stitch it all together.
Making a quilt from t-shirts is no more difficult than any other form of quilting. The t-shirt material, being stretchy cotton, will need to be stabilized to stop it from pulling and stretching out of shape. Stabilizer, however, is easy to work with and there are many different types available.
The quilt can be made by using blocks or squares of the same size and shape, or for a more free form quilt the blocks could be different sizes. Piecing together different sized blocks is probably best undertaken by a more experienced quilter.
The finished quilt needs to be backed onto another piece of fabric. Woven cotton, fleece or flannel are ideal for the backing. Some people like to add sashing and borders to their t-shirt quilts, and any cotton fabric will be suitable. This is by no means necessary, although it is a good way to make a few t-shirts go further. Batting can be incorporated to make a warm cozy quilt, or this can be left out for a more lightweight quilt.
Tutorials and further instruction can be found online:
Straw.com – How to make a t-shirt quilt.
PSHQuilts.com – Instructions for a 20 t-shirt quilt
You could use an iron on fusible interfacing, it’s generally in the same area of a store as wonder under. It’s a stabilizer with adhesive on only one side and I believe there is one made specifically for knit fabrics, but I’m not positive. Interfacing comes in several "weights" so you might want to take a small piece of jersey fabric to the craft store with you and see how you like the feel of them together. There are also sew in interfacings that you could pin to the jersey to hold it in place while you sew because sometimes the iron on will wrinkle with knit fabrics. Good luck!