Sunday, January 10, 2010

Craft Club Applique Shirts...

One of the great things about GCS Mom's League is our Craft Club. Jessica Roberts of Jessica Roberts Designs (http://www.jessicarobertsdesigns.com/) is our coordinator and she does a fantastic job!

This month we did applique t-shirts. Which I'm totally in love with! I posted my first one on facebook and had several friends ask if I would teach them how to make them, so here are my instructions. Enjoy!

Supplies needed: T-shirt (Walmart and Target have great ones), material (I've been having them cut 1/2 a yard and it's more than I'll ever use on one shirt), a template (you can buy them on etsy for about $1.50 each or create your own out of die cuts or images online), steam a seam sheets (found in the sewing area at Hobby Lobby or Joanns), scissors, embroidery thread, and embroidery needles...First cut out your template.

The steam a seam is like double stick tape that has to be ironed to activate. There is also a sheet of parchment paper to seperate the sheets. Discard the sheet of parchment paper.
Trace your design on the back of the steam a seam as a reverse image.
Iron it onto the back of your material for about 10 seconds.

Cut the shape out following the pattern on the back of the steam a seam...
Add some contrasting fabric if you want (I just used small pieces of steam a seam to add them on)...
There is a peel on the back of the steam a seam paper that will need to be removed before you iron it onto the shirt...
Take your embroidery thread and needle and add a loop stitch around the entire border, this gives it a more "finished" look...
Here are some of my other creations this weekend... Milla LOVES alligators so I made her an alligator shirt (I used her purse as the pattern)...
Seriously how cute is this?
She LOVED it!
Super fun for the zoo!
This is the shirt I made at craft club...

These are so easy to make and I've found the hand sewing portion of it is oddly relaxing before bed. Happy shirt making! Feel free to comment with any questions!