A little applique...

I bought the girls some shirts at Walmart last week--like $3.50! While we watched movies last week, I did some fun applique.

Some great Japanese fabric for Emma and Audrey, appliqued and embellished with some beads (click for a larger view):

And matching birdie shirts for spring:

You can also do applique on shirts you already have--especially over stains. As my friend Jen says, "A whole new shirt or sweatshirt out of something you were planning to throw away!"

**ADDED LATER**

Katie left a comment below asking for some instructions...so here you go!

You'll need:
a shirt, onesie, sweatshirt--something to applique (be sure it's prewashed and dried)
something to put on the shirt--a shape or picture cut from fabric (I like cotton fabric best for this)
package of Heat and Bond Ultra
iron and ironing board
embroidery floss and needle
beads, buttons, sequins

Cut out what you'd like to applique onto your shirt. Following the instructions, apply Heat and Bond to the wrong side of the shape. Then iron your shirt to make it smooth, decide on placement, and iron your applique onto the shirt.

Embellish with embroidery and beads. It's important to do some sort of a running stitch around the outside edge. (Or you can stitch down the edges with a straight stitch on your machine, or even a zigzag stitch.) While I've read in books that the Heat and Bond will hold permanently, it hasn't for me. The first onesie I did came out of the wash with the edges curled and coming up randomly.

For stretchy cotton shirts, I think two strands of embroidery floss is about perfect. Any more and it it gets a little lumpy. Any beads or buttons will depend on the person wearing it--I don't use beads or buttons for babies or toddlers--and the thing you've chosen to applique.

That's it!

Comments

[Angie]

Aww nuts! I just lost my comment. Hopefully this only shows up once.

Do you ever get tired of being so creative? :)

I love those birdie shirts. I have a few tees around here with stains that I couldn't bear to toss. Thanks for the great idea! (Now to actually DO it...)

[katie]

joanne, can you recommend a website to me with instructions on how to do this? i just clicked on a few, but they were different methods and nowhere near as cute as yours...

[Sarah]

Those are so pretty! Nice idea.

[katie]

thank you!!! i can't wait to try it!

[miss chris]

Love that japanese print. It really lends itself to applique, doens't it??!

[Amy @ By His Grace]

How fun! I'm going to have to try this one!

[Angie Platten]

Love this fabric! Since I only have boys, this isn't such a big hit but, when my nieces were small, I had so much fun doing this type of thing. I'd often get some yardage of coordinating fabric and create a big "ruffle" which was sewn to the bottom making the cutest t-shirt dresses. When you see Stephanie again, ask her about them because I'm sure I made them for her girls! Very fast, easy, and fun projects.

[Jeni]

I had to go looking for this today. I'm planning to make birthday shirts for my daughter & several of her friends, who will all be turning 3 between now & October. I wanted to do a nice appliqued "3" on the shirt, and make matching hair clips. These directions sound easy, so I think I'll give it a try!