How I got started…

I have been saving my kids sports jerseys, specialty sweatshirts, uniforms & fave T’s since they were in kindergarten … Around the beginning of my son’s senior year I began digging out all these shirts from dusty bins in the attic , sorting through them all took me on a trip down memory lane, how could 12 years go by so fast I thought, wiping the tears away as I stacked all of these memories into a bag. My next step had me on a google goose chase through all these sights that instructed me to just stuff 12 years of my son’s precious memories into a box & ship them half way across the country, but not before I took a scissors to each one & attempt to dissect them all… This was not something I was willing to do with such precious memorabilia, so after some procrastination I began asking around until I found a friend who knew of a woman. I thought to myself it’s worth a try & times ticking if I want this done in time for graduation, after a 35 min conversation with her I was surprised to discover that this will take a few months turn around time in addition to a whopping price tag. So I was left wondering about the process that goes into making these t-shirt blankets so I did what any other red blooded American would do… I trolled YouTube for hours on end searching for answers… boy was I captivated by the process that goes into constructing a t-shirt blanket as well as baffled by it (who knew I would need to be a mathematician looking to solve a symmetric layout riddle) not to mention 1. I couldn’t sew a button & 2. I didn’t have a clue as to how to turn on an iron let alone operate this small appliance. Sometime between week 3 & 2am I mustered up enough courage to start cutting the shirts into squares, I measured, took a few steps back, measured again, came back adjusted a few things, measured again, put on my glasses & measured for a final time after I got though all the cutting, this took days at the rate I was going (slow & steady won the race, right)? And now the fun part, the design & layout… so I thought I had to really tap into some 9th grade algebra skills here. Instead of using the actual shirts I gathered many different colors of construction paper that corresponded to the color of the shirts & I attempted to draw the image of the shirt on the piece of paper, then I proceeded to number them according to which row & column that they were in.

Once I confirmed my layout & design I got to work… not on sewing, of course but LEARNING HOW TO EVEN TURN ON A SEWING MACHINE ON! Well I have my mother’s patience & insomnia to thank for this one. After many phone sessions on learning how to thread a bobbin…actually let’s back up,, to be honest I had to figure out what a bobbin even was in the first place! Then several phone calls dedicated to trouble shooting how to thread a needle . Needles to say this was another painfully slow process as well. Looking back it feels like just yesterday that my husband was shaking his head as he attempted to explain to me the intricate workings of an iron. After many all nighters (you would’ve thought I was the one who was preparing for college) I finally finished what I call my pride & joy . I stared at my finish product for what seemed like hours crying tears of joy for what I just created for my son (& prob some tears from the 3rd degree burns on my fingers from that iron)

I gave this to him on his graduation day, & the look on his face was worth every sleepless night, every pin prick & iron burn. This is a gift that will last a lifetime… We hung it up for his graduation party & it was definitely THE CONVERSATION PIECE!

Soon after I completed my son’s T-shirt blanket I began working on my step son’s

And I loved every second that went into making these blankets. I started making them as gifts to my kids graduating friends

My 5 year old little preschooler watched me make these blankets for months & give them to the kids for their graduation…. well one day Milania came to me & said, “Mommy, I can’t wait for you to give me my special blanket when I graduate preschool!” As you can imagine I did not except that nor was I prepared to respond so I did the next best thing I started laughing, Milania picked up on my nervous laugh & blurted out “what is so funny?” I said to her that these blankets are made from many years of accumulated shirts, & We don’t have enough of your special shirts yet to make this. She walked away. I was relieved, thinking I was off the hook. 20 minutes later Milania comes down & throws a bag in my lap “here you go, this should be enough to get you started” At this point I knew there was no escaping.

gymnastics themed blankets

cheerleading themed blanket

The layout of a memory blanket for a special, Husband, Dad & Grandpa

And before I could say T-shirt Blanket Treasures I had orders piling in from college graduation, to themed style blankets & memory blankets from loved ones who are no longer with us.