A dance costume quilt is a quilt that is made from a dancer’s collection of dance costumes. These can include performance costumes, practice outfits and T-shirts and sweatshirts from dance competitions.
A dance costume quilt is a perfect way to keep and display fun parts of each item.
Most of the time we make dance costume quilts for the dancer. Typically, the dancer’s mom works with us to have the quilt made.
In this article we will share a lot of photographs of the quilts we make. And we are happy to make one for you.
When should you have a dance costume quilt made?
These quilts are typically made after specific breaks in a dancer’s career. For example, after high school, after the dancer is finished dancing competitively or when the dancer is no longer dancing.
These quilts tell the story of a period of time in a dancer’s life. Wait for a good break in the career.
You don’t want to make a quilt just because you ran out of room to store all the outfits! This might not be at the right time to tell a complete story.
What can be included in a dance costume quilt?
If you look at the photos here of dance quilts we have made, you can see that we use most everything we can.
If something is bulky and we can’t de-bulk it, we can have it snap on and off the quilt.
Send us everything that belongs in the quilt and we will do our best to include it. We will let you know if something just can’t be used.
What can’t be used?
We can’t use tap dancing shoes. But we could create footprints with them onto fabric to put into the quilt.
How many items can you use?
Typically, the more items you have, the larger the quilt. The fewer items you have, the smaller the quilt.
We can take whatever you send and make just about any size quilt within reason.
If you want a large quilt and only send a few items, then we will cut larger and more blocks from each item.
If you want a small quilt and send us a ton of items, then we would only be able to use a small block from each item.
I would suggest you follow the same guidelines for how many to send as we use for a T-shirt quilts. This will be a good starting place in thinking about what size quilt you want in relationship to how many items you have.
How Many T-shirts for a Quilt?
Uses for dance costume quilts?
We have found that these quilts are best if they are not used. This doesn’t mean fold them up and put the away. No.
The best uses would be a wall hanging or on an unused/guest bed. This way you can look at the quilt and enjoy your memories.
What size is good for a dance costume quilts?
Not huge. They become very heavy very quickly. We would suggest you keep them at the twin size or smaller. And we can work with you to make the quilt the right size for a particular wall you might have in mind.
We can also orient the quilt landscape. This means the quilt is wider than tall.
If you have a ton and a half of costumes and have a king size spare bed, we can make the quilt large. It will be very heavy and unwieldy.
Long term care of a dance costume quilt
They cannot be washed in a washing machine! These are dry-clean only. Unless every single costume you send can be machine washed, you need to dry-clean your quilt.
To help keep your quilt clean on a regular basis, I would suggest you gently vacuum your quilt. Gently! This care will help you not have to dry-clean your quilt very often.
As I suggested above, don’t use your dance quilt as a blanket.
What is the cost of a dance costume quilt?
They are not cheap! We charge the same price for a dance costume quilt as we do for a complex baby clothes quilt. Read about the pricing here.
There is a lot of extra work involved with these quilts. For example each costume needs to be backed with another piece of fabric. This is to give it a background and to make it less stretchy. The costume also needs to be sewn down to this material.
And long arm quilting a dance quilt is insane. We typically break 2 to 4 needles getting too close to the bling!
How long does it take to have a dance costume quilt made?
Typically we ask for 3 months. There are only a few of us that have the experience to make one. So we have to find the time to do the extra work.
If it will take longer than 3 months, we will let you know. A dance costume quilt is not a quick project.
Conclusion
Dance costumes quilts are an awesome way to preserve your dance costumes. Spend time doing your research in order to find the right person to make your quilt. If you would like Too Cool T-shirt Quilts to make your quilt, send us an email.
Video About Dance Costume Quilts