Dave and I have a lot of t-shirts, but we wear them all the time… so I can justify it!
We also keep them fairly organized by folding them in “quarters” and then stacking them like vertical files {see pictures below}.
By folding our t-shirts this way, we are able to easily see them all at the same time, and then quickly grab the one we want to wear without having to dig to the bottom of a pile {this is especially helpful if you have several shirts of the same color!}
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always folded and stored my t-shirts this way — I thought it was “the way” to do it. However, when I blogged about how I organize our master closet and all our other accessories, I started getting lots of comments and emails asking me to explain and/or demonstrate exactly how I fold our t-shirts.
So I figured I should venture out and do my very first vlog!
The quality isn’t that great because Dave’s thumb was covering the microphone the entire time… but I think you get the idea 🙂
If you can’t see the video, please click through to the full post.
That’s it… so simple.
Well, as I was going through my t-shirts for this post, I decided I had too many. I’ve been thinking of making a t-shirt quilt for a while now, but I’ve just never made the time… until now.
Ok, so I’m not actually going to make the quilt 🙂 Jane from Maiden Jane is a pro at these quilts; and even though she’s super busy, she willingly agreed to make me a quilt!
I picked out a bunch of my most memorable t-shirts and shipped them off yesterday!
I’m so happy with my less-full drawer of t-shirts and I can’t wait to show you the finished quilt — what a fun way to create something useful and memorable AND clear a bunch of clutter in the process.
If you are interested in making a t-shirt quilt, you’ll definitely want to visit Jane’s website because she has a t-shirt quilt template that you could use to make your own quilt… or of course, you could just have Jane make the quilt for you!
Mara Yager says
Just watched this, thanks so much!
Dawn says
Do you use the clear organizers like you do for the baby site? If so what size? LOVE your tips!!! 🙂
Lorrie says
This is exactly how I fold my t-shirts also. Glad to see I’m not the only person who doesn’t fold in thirds, which stresses me out trying to get each third “exact.” Halves is much easier on my nerves! lol
Rachael says
Thanks so much for sharing this, I just cleaned out my husbands tee shirt drawer and now I can actually close it no problem!!
Ashley says
Do your t-shirts ever get creases down the middle, or do you wear them so often that they don’t have time to crease? My mother used to fold my shirts in half, but I couldn’t stand the creases!
I would love to be able to use this method, b/c it’s great to be able to see everything!
Andrea says
Hmmm… is it bad if I said “I honestly don’t know!” haha
I wear my t-shirts all the time (like every day) so they are regularly washed, dried, folded, worn, etc. I also usually wear something over the t-shirt so that might cover some of the creases. And don’t forget that I often sit at home most of the day and Nora is not one to care about my wrinkly clothing 🙂
That said, I’m sure my t-shirts do get a bit of a crease down the middle, but it goes away when I put the shirt on (or I don’t care enough!)
Lou says
Love this!! I’m a fan of rolling my tees, after folding in thirds, but I think I will give this a try.
I see you have Wagner tees, are you a Wagner alum?
I enjoy your site very much and have implemented many of your ideas. Keep up the good work!
Andrea says
haha, thanks Lou… my maiden name was Wagner 🙂
Lrussell says
My son had a couple favorite tees that he had outgrown, but would NOT let me get rid of them. He typically didn’t hold on to things, so I knew these meant a lot to him. So, I turned them into pillows. I just turned the tee inside out, stitched closed the neck, the sleeves, and most of the bottom. Turn it right side out, stuff with fill, and then I stitched closed the bottom by using a top stitch on my machine.
He used those pillows until there were holes in them and the stuffing was falling out! With being used tees, they were extremely soft and I could wash them in the washer when they got dirty!
Shante says
OMG I fold my t-shirts the exact same way, except I don’t stand them up, I just stack them. I will definitely try your method if our draws or tall enough to do this! Thanks!
Michele says
I had over 100 t-shirts that stored a lot of memories. I had been collecting and keeping them for most of my life. Even though I loved 90% of my collection dearly and did still wear most of them, they took up a lot of space and energy dealing with all of them. I had seen the quilts before and thought they were really neat. However, I was committed to a major purge. There was no way I could fit them on one quilt and creating 7 or 8 quilts just seemed silly because quilts take up even more space and who needs that many quits? I decided to take a picture of every shirt and made a poster collage. I can look at it and still have all my memories in very little space. Since I made it myself, whenever the collection gets to large again, I can just add more pics and reprint. Also doubles as super cheap and very personal, colorful artwork.
Shannon says
The first time I saw this method of storing shirts in a drawer was at my dear SIL’s house. I’m the “organized one” (sort of), and I seriously thought she had lost her marbles on this one. But then, a few months later as I struggled with re-folding my hubby’s tees from his scramble through the stack it hit me – maybe she was on to something! Why not FILE shirts like documents in a filing cabinet? Much easier to find what you need than having a stack of paper, right? I spent the next hour re-folding everything in our drawers into quarters and “filing” the items. And now, I’ve seen it on your blog, so I know that neither of us have lost it and that it is in fact a great idea!!!
Maxwell says
This is a really awesome idea. I have limited space in my drawers and I’m terrible at folding. So after a few weeks I end up with wrinkled messy shirts all over the place as I’m always moving them around to pull out a shirt underneath.
I may have to try this, very awesome!
Sarah Smith says
I used all our old t-shirts to make a set of fitted pocket diapers for our newest little one. I also used some old towels for the soaker pads. All together I made 3 dozen fitted cloth diapers, and I only purchased elastic, for about $7.00, and two diaper covers from http://www.mombecks.com, which cost me $20.95. The best decision I ever made.
Judy says
I love this idea! I’m going through our closet/dressers this weekend. I’m going to give this a try.
sarah says
Thanks for sharing, I’m adopting this for all 4 of our dressers/tshirt drawers. FYI both my guys love how they can see all their tshirts at any given time. It isn’t completely fullproof with my 8yr old but he’s 8 not much is fullproof at this point and there is time for it to make sense for him.
thanks again
Sarah
Sarah says
I made a quilt from my daughter’s soccer shirts. They were stretchy, so I ironed interfacing onto the backs before sewing together. Each shirt was cut into a 12″ square. I made a cardboard frame before I started so that I could decide which 12″ section of the shirt front or back I wanted to “capture”. The shirt pieces were sewn together in a grid with 3″ sashing in between. the sashing was made from the shirt sleeves.
Jessica Tillett says
I love the vlog! 😉 I love this idea of organizing the t-shirts like files. I hope you decide to do more vlogs. Love your site and all of your ideas!
C says
So simple yet genius! I’m going to organize my shirt drawer right now.
Ann says
I have done this with my shirts for years except that I don’t fold them in half because I don’t like a center crease. I fold the arms and a bit in to the center so the whole center is showing. Drawers do need to be deep enough to allow the shirts to “stand”. Some of our dressers don’t work for this.
I also love you plan for your t-shirt quilt. I would rearrange the squares some to balance the reds and to separate the “Wagner”s but I am sure you will love having it. I plan to hire someone to do ours as soon as I can sort through the t-shirts! (Which will NOT be during the school year!)
Claudia says
Hi, I’m a silent reader of your blog, hehe
I just LOVE the idea of your t-shirt organization. My husband usually leaves the drawers a mess when he tries to pick which t-shirt to wear… This is going to save me a lot of effort for sure! Thanks!
Andrea says
Thanks Claudia — hope this method works well for you too 🙂
Jennifer says
This is a great idea. I have been meaning to go through my shirts and get rid of ones I don’t wear and re-organize them. After watching your video it gave me motivation to get it done! Now my shirts are neat in my drawers and I have more room. Thank-you for posting this!
Lindsay says
I was going to say, “I make t-shirt bags” and give you the link to where I found the idea, but I’m pretty sure I found it on your blog!! Haha!
Andrea says
yup, the t-shirt bags are on my site 🙂
glad you’re using my ideas!!
Sandy says
Love your vlog! Nice work.
I use a variation of your method. I use a shirt ‘folder’ (like stores use) so there is no crease down the middle front. But the design is visible and it’s easy to get the shirt we want!
Kaui @ Thrifty Military Mommy says
That’s awesome!!! I hate our drawers because i’m constantly digging to find the one shirt I want that I can never seem to find until I don’t want to wear it anymore. Thank you so much for showing us how you do that!!! I can’t wait to revamp our family’s drawers the same way!!! Btw, do you also stack your pants, shorts, or whatever else you have in your drawers. Would love to know!
Oh, and you’re looking good, mama!!
Andrea says
You’re so welcome!
And for the shorts and pants, I still fold those in stacks, but I keep most of my pants on shelves in our closet so I can still see every pair.
Erika says
Thanks for sharing – your are such an inspiration – i never thought about putting my tshirts this way. I just went through and got rid of several last week too. I am a tshirt queen, but wear them often when i come home from work and on the weekends. Your method would allow me to actually see my stock.
Andrea says
Thanks Erika… glad my ideas helped you out 🙂
Laurel says
Love the video. Makes you so much more “real”. Hope you make some more!
Alicia@ eco friendly homemaking says
Oh my goodness this looks awesome. You have made me want to get our tee shirts looking like this! I am new to your blog and am so glad that I found it!!
Jessi says
That is a great way to fold shirts! I currently just fold shirts in quarters and stack them vertically in a drawer, but your way makes it sooo much easier to see what’s going on!
I had a TON of free t-shirts after college, and they were all a bit big and shapeless so I knew I wouldn’t really wear them again. I did two different things…for a couple of shirts I modified them slightly (shortened the sleeves to cap-sleeve length and took in the side seams) and they fit great now! For the rest I also turned them into a quilt. This way I’ve got a “souvenir” of sorts from college, but I don’t have 30 t-shirts taking up room. I haven’t put up the post about the t-shirt quilt on my blog yet, but here’s a sneak peek pic!
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-hiXgwaqISoc/TA3BBMaTwTI/AAAAAAAAAA8/TXrQS98cB_Q/s400/photo%25284%2529.jpg
Jane says
Wow, that’s a great way to fold shirts! My drawers are not quite as deep, but I still may give it a try. I get “mad” when my husband always wears the same shirts. He gets “mad” because I don’t rotate them in the drawer! This would prevent this “madness”!!!
I am looking forward to working on your quilt. It is a great way to simplify your life, to rid yourself of things you no longer need and turn them into something practical. With four kids, 3 of whom are teens, our household collects T Shirts almost as fast as it collects dust! My son’s closet bar (he hangs his tees) was slumping down in the middle due to so many shirts. We made a quilt for him, but he still has a hard time parting with some of them. (He has a hard time wearing all of them, too!)
Jenny C. says
Andrea – I love your vlog. It’s so fun to see and hear you! Love this method too. My hubby is the t-shirt king. Only question I have is that his dresser drawers are super deep so not sure how to make this work. Ideas? Have a blessed day (and Nora too!). Jenny C.