So after doing some intense cleaning, I have found mannnnny robotics shirts I have been given over the years and I no longer have the space to keep them all stacked up in my closet and dresser. I wear quite a lot of them (and so does my mother sometimes :rolleyes: ) and a lot have sentimental value as well (first team shirt, old good friend’s team, etc.) And I was wondering what people usually do with their old shirts? Don’t get me wrong I’ve donated some old shirts from my old teams but would like to do something creative with the shirts I refuse to give away.
The only thing I can think of is to make a huge quilt/blanket out of my favorite shirts of the bunch but I don’t even know how to go about doing that.
Has anyone done anything interesting to old robotics shirts?
Anyone have experience making a quilt out of shirts?
Also, if anyone wanted a team 4 shirt from 06-08, PM me and let me know why you want one and what size you will like, I found a few floaters I will gladly mail out.
We have about 12 robotics shirts in t-shirt hanging wall frames. It’s real easy to get them in there and you don’t even have to cut them up. It looks really nice, they were purchased from Michaels.
I’ve made some tee shirt quilts and I started a how-to paper on the process a while back. This would be a good project for me to finish up and when I do, I’ll post in CD as a white paper. It’s pretty easy to do and very rewarding.
I go the boring route. After 8 years of mentoring I have had so many shirts that when the closet gets too full I turn the old/worn out ones into shop rags. I try to keep one of each old design or at least a few interesting ones for throwback Thursdays but that’s it.
Last year I dumped a giant bin of them on a bench in the Robowrangler lab during build. The resulting “feeding frenzy” of shirt grabbing was pretty hysterical…
Shirts from other teams can be used as rewards/bribes for good behaviors. Public recognition of a job well done can be a paowerful influence. Maybe that is why we are in FIRST and not FIST. Don’t forget the “R”.
If you aren’t as handy as Jane, there are companies that will take your shirts and make a quilt from them. We used Ross Common Quilts several years ago as a graduation gift for our daughter. Expect to pay $200 or more though.
I’m sure that within the FRC community t-shirts are better than robot trading cards. I for one would love to get my hands on one from a legacy team that predates coopertition, as well as teams/years that have inspired my own innovations at work/in school (148/2010, 118/2007, 1114/2004, 45/1998?).
If all else fails, donate them to someone with a dog. Young dogs love to chew on the soft ones. I learned this the hard way, heh.
There was a much talked about but short lived idea a few years ago - “The Golden Ball.” It was based on an idea thrown out by Sergey Brin during his CMP talk. A massive group effort involving a relay of robots. It seemed to me a little nutty, but we actually had at least one official conference call about it.
But during this call, I had a visual of a “Clothes Line Project” effort involving FIRST shirts. (The Clothes Line Project has been used by various groups over the past 30 years for different messages). Miles and miles of FIRST shirts wrapped around something, like the Capitol Mall, or along a route.
Clothes Line Projects have a huge impact and create deep emotions by their message and their length (strength) of line. It’s not so much - it takes a village - it is rather, we are a village/community and this is what we are about/stand for/represent.
