I was packing up some of Bryson’s t-shirts that he grew out of the other day, and yep, got a little teary. I remember the funny onesies that friends bought him, his first pre-school shirt, even a hand me down from his cousin that he wore every day for months. It isn’t the shirts that I want to keep necessarily, just the memories they evoke and the feelings I have when I look at them. For example, this is the onesie I gave to my husband as a birthday gift, right before our son was born, and this is one of his first smiles:
I recently discovered a way to turn his shirts into something useful, something that I can look at every day. Project Repat is a company that can take those t-shirts and make them into the most affordable quilt on the market. Take a look at this video, and try to think back to all of those moments in your childhood. It is seriously worth a watch to relive all of those defining moments!
The best part? Project Repat creates fair wage jobs in the US, created by designers, cutters and sewers living in the United States. They are repurposing textiles with, well a purpose! They cut and sew all of the t-shirt panels together and back it with PolarTec fleece, which is made from recycled plastic bottles (23 bottles per yard of fleece!). Also, 5% of trash on our planet is textiles. Keep some of those out of the landfill and keep your memories.
I ordered one for Bryson and it should be ready in a few weeks. All I have to do is send out his shirts and let them do the work! If you are interested, here is pricing:
Full (30 panels which standard size is 12″x12″)- $129.99
Lap (16 standard panels)- $74.99
Twin (24 standard panels)- $109.99
Queen (49 standard panels)- $189.99
King (64 standard panels)- $239.99
You can also use smaller 8″x8″ panels if you are using baby/kit shirts or 14″x14″ panels for large graphics. There are also a variety of fleece backing: magenta, red, light blue, black, navy or gray.
I WISH I had saved all of my t-shirts to do this with my childhood memories!! What a wonderful gift to give your child, especially for graduation. You can order a “gift box certificate” to give- it comes with everything they need to turn their t-shirts into a quilt, including a pre-paid shipping envelope.
Here are some additional ideas:
Band t-shirts
Sports t-shirts
Sorority/Fraternity t-shirts
College t-shirts
I will share the quilt photos with you when it arrives, I can’t WAIT!
Disclosure: I received a complimentary quilt for review purposes. All opinions (and excitement) are honest and my own.
