My oldest son is a HUGE, and I mean HUGE Totoro fan.
He asked me ages ago to make him a Totoro quilt. I looked around the internet and couldn't find anything I really liked. Making something with a kitsch character for a teen is hard. So many of the things I found were cutesy vs kitsch.
My friend and I went to West Elm the other day for our spring visit. I'm not a huge fan of their furniture but I do quite like their linens. I only had to take one look at this wide rugby stripe duvet to know I had a jumping off point for the Totoro quilt. I don't think anyone would argue that rugby stripes are manly.
A quick google after I got home found me some images of Totoro and a plan to print some fabric. I discovered that a regular old ink jet printer can print on fabric. All you need to do is press the fabric on some freezer paper.
Cut it into 8 1/2 by 11" sheets.
And print!
I sprayed the prints with spray matte medium to seal in the ink and gave them a rise in the sink.
They faded a bit but nowhere near as much as I would have thought! The fabric is soft and flexible.
I used two Ikea sheets, one grey one white, cut into 11" strips.
I sewed them together in alternating stripes and fitted in Totoro and the dust mites.
My son is 17 and all about subtle. He was thrilled with this! I knew he wouldn't want something that screamed kid quilt. Subtle and animation usually don't go hand in hand but I think this fits the bill quite nicely.
FOLLOW UP:
I made this a couple of years ago. Alas, the printing method wasn't all that great. It faded. The quilt is still lovely but the Tororo is not what he once was. When I can get my hands on it for a little bit, I'm going to use some embroidery floss and stitch in the Totoro.
FOLLOW UP:
I made this a couple of years ago. Alas, the printing method wasn't all that great. It faded. The quilt is still lovely but the Tororo is not what he once was. When I can get my hands on it for a little bit, I'm going to use some embroidery floss and stitch in the Totoro.
