So how many shirts can you get from a sheet? Surprisingly only two!
This is my old favourite pattern, KwikSew 3422, made from a new flannelette sheet that was surplus to requirements. I must say that I chose the sheet colour knowing that I was going to turn the top sheet into shirts, but I had planned to dye them. Mark liked the rather bland colour, so I added some red flannelette to this one to give it a smidge more interest.
I made these shirts for Mark to wear gardening or just cruising round the shops, so imagine my surprise when he put it on and headed off for work. Luckily it was a non-meeting day!
Having made the one with the red trim, I had a dig in my flannel scraps stash and decided that I liked the tartan contrast with brown buttons and brownish top stitching. I think I prefer this one.
When I was fossicking through the flannel scraps I decided that I had enough to make Tom and Bridgette a flannel scrap quilt. This was my very first attempt at a quilt!
I loaded a massive box of scraps into the car and took them camping for the weekend. Tom and Bridgette came too and Bridgette helped me go through all the scraps and we cut a large number of 15cm squares for the rug. Scraps from the sheet were also incorporated, as well as some new flannelette material that Bridgette and I found in the Nannup op-shop. Here I am sewing up the squares on a very chilly morning!
In spite of my careful calculations, I think the quilt is a little small, so I’m going to make a few more rows and add them on.
In case you’ve never seen one of these quilts, they are easy, they have no batting, and the raw edges get snipped with scissors. There is a nice tutorial on Sew So Easy. I looked everywhere for the ragging shears needed for the edges. None in the local shops, I deemed the online ones too expensive, and then I found a pair in a quilting shop in Bridgetown, which is a lovely town about 270kms from Perth. They were $13, which was a bargain. I am constantly astonished at the things I find in country towns that I can’t find in the city.
I decided that I didn’t have enough squares the same to create a pattern, so took the random approach. This worked out ok mostly, but I do have a few identical squares next to each other. Not that Tom notices! He and Heidi clearly enjoy it!
So, my one queen size top sheet made two shirts and a bunch of squares for the quilt. I think I might even have a few more scraps left…