Are these going to be "used"? Will they be sat on, pushed behind someone etc, or will they simply be sat on a chair for occasional use? If the latter, they aren't going to need to be washed often so you need not worry about the effect of washing on the interfacing. An alternative might be to mount the T shirt fabric onto a piece of woven cotton (sheeting for instance). To counteract the stretchiness of the T shirt, you could machine stitch in squares across, a bit like quilting maybe 4" apart. In a matching thread it wouldn't interfere with the design too much.

Thank you. Will takes a look.

Mine dates from December 1945 and is made from real curly sheepskin. Unfortunately, he has lost one arm altogether and the other is off. I don't know what those Repair Shop ladies would have done about that.

I use the overlocker to finish the cut edge of the hem, then press it up and either hand stitch the hem or do just one row of stitches on the sewing machine. Very tidy.

I've found that although fresh air helps, it doesn't get rid of deeply ingrained mustiness. Washing or dry cleaning is the only option. That said, if the smell is of mothballs, even dry cleaning doesn't work. I haven't found a way round that one yet. If the fabric is too fragile even for dry cleaning, it isn't going to be practical to use it.

Have just seen one of these today in an antique centre (alongside 2 vintage Singer machines) for £28. It was very pretty - had never seen one "in the flesh" before. Because of the angle it was at, other than turning the wheel a bit, I couldn't examine it much, but the condition looked pretty good. I did take some pictures but have no idea how to get them from the phone into the computer.

It's beautiful - you look lovely in it!

It looks as if it might be one of their own patterns as advertised on the front. It says "sew in sizes 6 -22".