And how old are you today???

My baby is ONE...today! I'm really not sure where the last 365 days have gone. It seems like just minutes ago that her curly little head made its way into the world (with black hair!!!). And suddenly she is walking and talking and causing trouble. Whoever has the remote for our little world - will you please push rewind, or at the very least, pause? She's my last baby and I would really like some more time to enjoy her soapy smell, wobbly waddle, squishy thighs, and sweet giggles.

In honor of Bee's birthday - A BIRTHDAY DRESS! So your little gal can tell the world exactly "how many" she is:)

1. I used the Tuesday Top pattern from googooagogo.etsy.com. The body is a gorgeous turquoise damask print and has sweet grass green dot flutter sleeve.

2. For just a bit of additional interest, instead of using a solid panel for the back I added a narrow 1.5" strip of the sleeve fabric down the middle. To do this I cut a long strip of green and sewed it between two rectangles of blue. Then I made sure to center the pattern piece over the stripe before I cut the back panel.

3. When the dress was finished I added the applique "1." I played with the direction of the stripes and eventually fell in love with the diagonal placement...kind of a men's necktie style stripe:) I drew the number on paper, then created a mirror image. The easiest way for me to do this is to go over the outline in dark, heavy marker. Then I can just turn the paper over and trace the outline on the back of the paper. I traced the mirror image onto iron-on fusing paper, cut around the image and followed the package instructions to fuse it first to the wrong side of my fabric then to the dress. I used a wide zigzag to stitch around the edges.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BEE!!!!!

Making Do Monday - Birthday Bash!

It's Making Do Monday again and we just happen to be celebrating Bee's 1st birthday, so I thought a Birthday Bash theme would be appropriate:)

On Wednesday of last week I realized that little Bee's birthday party was on Saturday and, well....ummmm....I was TOTALLY unprepared. I had made no plans, bought nothing, made nothing, and was basically in denial of the fact that my baby was turning 1. It was time to get busy!

Belle helped me decided on a theme. Can you guess????

DINOSAURS!

In our family, we don't do big parties with lots of little munchkins until the age of 3 (totally arbitrary rule that we created completely on accident, but we like it, so we're sticking with it), so I didn't need crazy numbers of things to occupy 20 little tyrannosauruses. Just a few party favors for the kids in our life who qualify as "family" even if they aren't actually related. The backyard, all the new toys, not to mention the pizza and cake would provide plenty of entertainment.

We decided that a dinosaur party needed to be green, but then added in a little pink to make it more girly. I raided the stash and came up with a pile of pink and green fabric that was taller than Bee. During nap on Wednesday I drew a few big dino pictures for Belle to color while I cut out all the things we would be making (more on the magic dino pics in another post) .

After 2 days of cutting, pinning, sewing and stitching we were able to put together an entire party with just the things on hand. That's Making Do at its best, if I do say so myself!

As always, if your stash isn't as generous as mine, all the directions below include general guidelines for what you might need to buy.

Table Bunting:

You will need - lots of pieces of fabric (you can make as many flags as you want in as many different fabrics as you want...mine has 15 flags of 15 different fabrics all backed in white), a long piece of ribbon

1. Create a triangle pennant pattern. I did this with a large sheet of paper. Fold the paper in half hot dog style but crease only about one inch at the edge of the paper. Make a small mark at the very edge of the paper right on your crease. That mark will be the bottom point of your pennant. Then using a straight edge, draw a line connecting that point to each of the top corners of the paper. Cut the excess smaller triangles off and discard (or give to your child to color).

2. Trace your pattern onto the backsides of your fabric pieces. You will need TWO triangles for each flag. You can make the front and back match or pick coordinating fabric for the back sides (I just used white).

3. Place each pair of traingles right sides together and pin down the two long sides.

4. Sew down the two long sides of each traingle, then clip the point at the bottom off (be careful not to clip your stitches) and turn the flag right side out.

5. Press the flag and, if necessary, trim so that the top (RAW) edge is straight.

6. Line the flags up and put them in the order you want them to hang. My flags are all about 1 inch apart. Place the ribbon over the top edge of the flags and pin in place. Be sure that the raw edges do not show above the edge of the ribbon.

7. Use a wide zigzag stitch to sew each flag to the ribbon. If you are using satin ribbon, as I was, it is easier to sew each flag on separately and clip the threads between each one. If you are using grograin ribbon you can sew one long stitch line down the entire ribbon.

8. Be sure to clip any loose threads or strings from the raw edges.

Your bunting can be secured with packing tape to your table, high chair, or mantel. It can also be tied to deck rails, fence posts etc. for an outdoor party.

Gift Bags:

You will need - large rectangle of fabric (2 per bag), ribbon or cord

1. Decide how large your finished bag needs to be. Mine are 12x16, but you will not likely need one that large for most types of party favors.

2. Add seam allowances...this is a bit of tricky math so I'm going to show you mine:

a. Double the length 16x2=32

b. Add 2 inches to the length for foldover 32+2=34

c. Add 1/2" to the length for seam allowance 34+1/2=34.5

d. Add 1 to the width for seam allowance 12+1=13

e. Cutting measurements are now 13x34.5.

3. Cut TWO rectangles for each bag.

4. Place the two rectangles right sides together and using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew all the way around the edges leaving a 4" opening for turning.

5. Clip the corners and turn the bag right side out. Press flat and be sure to press the raw edges of the opening under so they will be sewn closed in the next step. Fold the short ends down 1" to form the ribbon casing and press in place. Then fold the bag in half hamburger style and press...you will now see what your finished bag will look like.

6. Sew across the bottom edges of the ribbon casing. Then, using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew down the two sides of the bag from the bottom edge of the ribbon casing to the bottom of the bag. DO NOT SEW THE RIBBON CASING CLOSED!

7. Cut a piece of ribbon that is the width of your bag + 6 x 2 (12+6=18, 18x2=36, so cut 36" of ribbon). Use a safety pin to thread it through the ribbon casing. Tie the two ends of the ribbon together in a small knot. If you are adding a bag tag - wait to tie the ends together until after you have put it on.

Bag Tags:

You will need - small scraps of felt, embroidery thread, small piece of ribbon

1. Draw the shape of your tag on a piece of paper and cut it out. Use this to trace a front and back for each tag you want to make. Mine were dinos, of course.

2. Cut out an initial for each tag if desired.

3. Stitch the initial (or other design) to the front of the tag. I used a back stitch, but you can just use a regular running stitch if you want.

4. Put the front and back together WRONG SIDES TOGETHER. Fold a small piece of ribbon in half and insert the raw edge end between the two layers of felt at the top of the tag. Pin in place. Stitch around the outside edge being careful to use neat, even stitches.

5. Slip the ribbon loop over the ribbon of your gift bag and then tie the bag ribbon ends together.

Softies:

You will need - fabric scraps, felt scraps, stuffing, embroidery thread

1. Design a simple outline on paper. Cut out your pattern and use it to cut two pieces for each softie. Use felt to design embellishments if desired (eyes, spots, spikes etc.). You will need to stitch all embellishments to each piece before putting the softie together. Things like plates or spikes will be sewn in during the final construction step. You can also embroider eyes, patterns etc. at this point.

2. Place the two pieces right sides together and pin. If you are adding spikes they will need to point down into your sandwich and be tucked in completely before sewing. Sew all the way around your softie leaving a 2-3 inch opening to turn.

3. Turn your softie right side out (your spikes will stick up now) and stuff well. Fold the edges of the opening under and slip stitch the opening closed.

Applique T-Shirt: I decided to try to protect the party dress (I'll do a dress post later...I think you'll LOVE it!) from the mounds of cake icing, so I put this together for Bee to wear while she ate her cake.

You will need - a oneise or tee (I keep a stock of the plain white Carters onesies in my stash, but you might need to buy one of these), fabric scraps, iron-on fusing paper (available at craft stores)

1. Draw out your design on plain paper. Be sure that it fits on your tee.

2. Trace each individual piece on the iron-on paper. This will actually end up as a mirror-image, so if you are doing a name or something else that is direction specific, be sure that you create a mirror image of what you want the finished project to look like.

3. Cut around each piece...you don't need to cut on the lines at this point, just cut close to your piece.

4. Place each piece on the WRONG side of the fabric that you have chosen for that part. Follow the package instructions to iron onto the fabric. Now you will need to craefully cut all of the pieces out on the lines you drew.

5. Peel the backs off of all of your pieces and arrange them on your tee. Follow the package instructions again to iron the pieces to your tee.

6. Use a straight or zigzag stitch to sew around the edges of all of your pieces. When you need to make a sharp turn, be sure that your needle is all the way down in your fabric, then lift the presser foot, turn your fabric, and put your presser foot back down before continuing to sew. If you have a lot of small pieces it is easier to use a straight stitch. Large, simple pieces look cute with a zigzag.

TIP - you can use the hand wheel on your sewing machine to sew one stitch at time in small sections if necessary.

Add some ballons and a few pizzas and have a blast at your birthday bash!

Girlysaurus

Dinosaurs are NOT just for boys!

We are very happy at our house, because Belle has a NEW fascination...DINOSAURS! And let me tell you, it is WAY more fun to play dinosaurs than it is to play princesses.

How this fascination began is still a bit of a mystery, but we are definitely encouraging it. We have checked out just about every dinosaur book in our library, visited the "dinosaur" museum (NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh has a cool dino exhibit), pretended to be stegosaurus, pteranodon, and of course, tyrannosaurus rex. We have had a fun-filled few weeks and so we are celebrating with some cool new dino clothes, because seriously...DINOSAURS ARE NOT JUST FOR BOYS!

Bee seems to always have to play the part of the stegosaurus, so this little gal is for her (fabric from Above All Fabric...again:).

And Belle got this great tee from Happy Family happyfamily.etsy.com.

Then Belle requested a "nice dinosaur with a long neck" t-shirt. Of course, I complied with the request. I love the combination of the sweet little ruffle-neck tunic with the traditionally masculine dinosaur design:)

There is sure to be more Girlysaurus sewing in the coming weeks as well...we'll definitely share if there is:)

Making Do Monday - Fisher Boy "Shorts"

I seriously love No Big Dill...like major blog crush! So when I saw this tutorial that Katy created, I just had to try it out...that night:)

http://www.maryjanesandgaloshes.com/2010/08/making-your-own-patterns-with-no-big.html

In honor of my goal to "make do" as much as possible, I raided the stash. This Red Letter Day fabric has been hanging around for months. I've used bits and pieces for small projects, but still had some serious yardage left...it's perfect for that summer to fall transition, don't you think???

Now you must know, I sew at night. That means that all fitting is done through estimation and sometimes comparison to other articles of clothing, but NEVER to the actual child who will wear the item. For these, I pulled out my favorite pants pattern...size 1 year. Bee is only a few days away from being 1, so that seemed to make sense. Then I shortened the pattern by about 6 inches to get a capri length (and lose the extra hem allowance, since I didn't need any for these "shorts."

Well you can see that apparently we grow 'em really short around here, but they're still super cute PANTS...and she'll be able to wear them for at least a year:)

Self-Stitched September - Piece #1

I'm afraid that I'm off to a pretty slow start on my preparations for Self-Stitched September:(

But, I finally got around to my very first wardrobe-building project...a camel yoga skirt!

I used this tutorial from Sew Mama Sew http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=8450. It was super simple and took only a few minutes. I was even able to use left-over fabric from the girls fall clothes...oooh, maybe you'll see this again on Making Do Mondays...is that cheating???

And the best news of all...it's so basic that I can wear it lots of times in lots of different ways. Do you think anyone would notice if I wore it every single day in September??? I seriously need to get busy!

OOPS!

And double oops...

I started making Belle an adorable little outfit featuring a tall, skinny house stamp from StudioMo.etsy.com.

I began with the top...a modification of a dress pattern that I have used several times in the past, shortened to be a swingy tunic top and jazzed up with a stamped patch. I used one of Belle's t-shirts to measure the length of the top. I put the top together and then went to try it on Belle to measure the strap length...and then, "Oh my, is that your tummy???" I won't go in to the details, but I measured to top to be put together one way, and then put it together a different way. I'm pretty sure that my 3 year old doesn't need a new belly shirt, so we clearly had a problem. OOPS!

Luckily, Belle came to the rescue...sort of. What I left out above was that during the entire fitting and belly viewing, Belle kept repeating, "Mommy, this isn't a shirt. It's a skirt. This isn't a shirt, it's a skirt...." Well, ok...maybe it is. And I actually like it better as a skirt now that I see it...thanks Belle!

So, now we have a pair of pants on the sewing table, that were intended to match the top that is now a skirt. Easy solution...make another top. This time I decided to make a basic tunic top...minus the belly exposure. A few minutes later we tried on the new top. After less than an hour of wearing the new top, Belle was complaining that it was hurting. She directed me to the site of the pain...under her arms. Apparently I should have measured those straps instead of guessing on the length, because they were way too short. Off goes top #2...I promise I'll fix those straps after the girls are in bed tonight...DOUBLE OOPS!

But this time, Bee to the rescue! We decided to head to the outlet mall for the afternoon, but Bee was way overdressed for the hot NC sun. As we headed upstairs to find something light and breezy, we passed by the abandoned top #2, hmmmm....

PERFECT...Bee has a new dress! Those straps were just the right length for her chubby little arms:) And you know what? I like this one better as a dress too! (Sorry no pic of Bee in her dress...it was outlets then bed for the little one!)

Thanks girls and don't you just love elastic??? How else could two children more than 2 years apart wear the same piece of clothing on the same day?

TEES!

I need to keep it short this evening...typing is a real challenge with bandaids on multiple fingers! I was more than a little clumsy at the machine tonight and stabbed several fingers with pins while I worked! But, I thought I would share a couple of quick tee refashions that I have done for Belle in the last couple of weeks. Both are reasonably simple if you are adept at working your sewing machine.

The first is this adorable bow tee. It was made to match the patchwork pants that I shared a while back. It doesn't take much explanation if you are familiar with ruffles. If you would like step-by-step directions, just let me know.

I created the bow by turning 2 long strips of fabric right sides together and stitching down the long sides. Next, I turned the tube right side out and top stitched both sides. Finally I cut the ends on the diagonal, turned the edges under and topstitched. Once the long strip was prepped, I tied the bow and hand-stitched it in place. I think next time I will attach the bow to a large pin so that it can be removed for washing. I was, of course, making this at the last minute the night before Belle's preschool program. And wouldn't you know that there were no appropriate pins in the house...oh well!

The ruffle was made by cutting a long strip of fabric approximately 4.5" wide by twice the length of the bottom edge of the tee. First, I sewed the short ends together to form a large circle. Then, I folded the circle in half the long way with wrong sides together and ran a gathering stitch (longest stitch length your machine will do) close to the edge. I pulled the top thread to gather the fabric, flipped it up over the tee right sides together and pinned it in place. I sewed the ruffle to the tee and finished the raw edge with a zigzag stitch. Finally, I flipped the ruffle down in place and topstitched along the edge of the tee approximately 1/8 of an inch above the seam. I really like the way this tee is long on Belle, but if you wanted the tee to hit right at the waist of your pants, then just cut a few inches off the bottom of the tee before you add the ruffle.

I don't have a pic of the second tee refashion, but it is really basic. I needed a tee to match a pair of capris that I made for Belle to wear to her birthday party (MY BABY IS 3...Where did the time go???). I couldn't find anything in her size that matched the pants, but I did find a tee one size too big. I figured I could make it work with some redesign.

My goal was to add ruching at the hip to shorten the tee and bring in the waist a bit. To achieve that I cut 4 pieces of ribbon (about 12 inches long) and 2 pieces of felt (about 6 inches long and wide enough to cover both ribbons plus seam allowances). On the inside of the tee at each hip, I placed 2 strips of ribbon side by side, one on each side of the side seam. I made sure that there was about 6 inches of ribbon hanging below the hemline of the tee. Then I placed a piece of felt over the ribbons (see diagram - it's rough, I know...but, I wanted to sketch something out so you could see the set-up). I started by sewing across the top of the felt and ribbons to hold everything in place. Then I sewed the felt to the tee on the outside edges and between the ribbons, making sure not to catch the ribbon in the seam. By scrunching the tee up and tieing the ribbons I ruched the side seams and shortened the tee by several inches...enough for it to fit Belle quite nicely. For a little added oomph, I used the same ribbon to hand-stitch a small bow on the top of each shoulder of the tee. I'm not entirely sure that I would use felt again because it added quite a bit of bulk (once again, it was a last minute improvisation). I think you could use extra wide bias tape or a piece of fabric (be sure you fold the edges under to prevent fraying). But, if felt is what you have...it will work just fine.

Diagram:
Dark line - bottom edge and side seam of tee
Dashed line - stitch lines
Shaded Area - ribbons
Rectangle with thin outline - felt piece

Patchwork Pants

First of all, let me just say that I have a new favorite fabric store...Above All Fabric (www.aboveallfabric.com). This shop is amazing! The selection is out of this world, the prices are great (you should see some of the sales) and there is a rewards program that gives you money back toward your next order. Right now she is running a Go Pink sale that benefits Breast Cancer. Be sure to enter GOPINK at check-out. You get 10% off and another 10% is donated.

A couple of weeks ago I ordered the pattern for these amazingly cute little patchwork pants (see below) from Above All Fabric. As soon as it arrived, I broke out a charm pack that I had in my stash and put together the multi-colored pair for Belle (please excuse the wrinkles...I didn't think to take a pic before she had been wearing them all day, and after the day I've had, I am not about to iron them!). Of course, I had to order more fabric to finish them off...you didn't think I would complete an entire project just from my stash did you? After a successful trial run, I decided to incorporate these pants into my summer seeersucker stuff. Aren't they adorable?

Next to create a tee to match...I'm thinking white tee with red ruffle at the bottom and maybe a detachable fabric bow on the chest, but haven't quite decided. If you have any ideas, please share!

And, "the day I've had," for those of you who don't know me personally, involved my first triathlon...in a thunderstorm and mud almost up to my knees! But I finished...and with a much better time than I had anticipated:)

Sometimes You Just Get Lucky:)

I was determined to put Belle's sweet little fingerprint caterpillar on a tee for this summer! I scoured the shelves of 4 different mass-market stores looking for plain white tees in size 3T. Just 3 weeks ago, they were everywhere, but I didn't need them 3 weeks ago! I was just about to give up and order them (and spend a whole lot more money!), when I saw a small stack of white tees on the bottom shelf at a store more than 30 minutes from my house. WHAT LUCK! I needed 4 white tees (for the caterpillar and various other projects and orders) and there were exactly 4 white tees in size 3T in that little stack! I was feeling like I had won the lottery when I turned around and spotted these super-cute plaid shorts. My luck just doubled! Could you dream up a more perfect pairing than the tiny caterpillar and this vivid plaid??? So...sometimes you just get lucky!

So how'd I do it? The caterpillar that is.

This project is perfect for the non-sewers out there...as long as you have some basic computer knowledge and a color printer. I do recommend that you do a couple of test runs before jumping in to the final project.

1. Open the Paint program. Scan your child's art to Paint. Size it as appropriate.
2. Then you need to mirror image your pic. Under the Image menu, select Rotate, then Flip Horizontal. Save your mirror image.
3. Now you have a choice...Do you have other things that you want to create transfers of? [poor grammar...I know!]
NO 4. Put the transfer paper in the printer and print.
YES 4. Follow the same process for every image you want to transfer. Then create a Word document with all the mirror-image pics that you want to print. Put the transfer paper in the printer and print.
5. Cut out the image. Be sure to cut close to your pic.
6. Follow the transfer directions to iron the image to your garment.

NOTE - If you are planning to transfer to a dark fabric, be sure to purchase transfer paper made for dark fabric...you won't need to mirror-image your pics with this kind of paper.

Tank Dress Tutorial

The main idea with these dresses is that you can repurpose tanks and tees that are too short, have a stain, etc. With the version in this tutorial, you can even make use of that extra 1/4 of a yard of fabric you have left over from some other project. Did I do that? Of course not:) I ordered fun fabric, scoured the town for just the right tank, and picked out the perfect complementary fabric. But, the point is...you COULD do it the greener more frugal way!

Now on to the tutorial...

If you are one of those people who needs a pattern piece to trace and exact measurements before you start cutting, you can just stop reading right now. That's not the way I operate, and it surely isn't the way this tutorial is written...Sorry! But, if you can roll with it and are comfortable with ball-park measurements, then read on for a super-simple outline of how to create your own cutie-pie dress. Basic sewing knowledge is helpful with this tutorial. I didn't write out every minute detail. If you've never sewn before and want more details just let me know and I will be happy to create a more detailed tutorial with pics:)

1. Select your tank/tee. Try it on!!!! Then mark where you want the skirt to be attached. You can have it high like an empire waist, at the natural waist, or even low like a drop waist...totally up to you. Add 1/2 an inch to the length of the tee for seam allowance, draw a line across the tee, and cut off the bottom.

2. Try it on again. Measure from the bottom of the tee to the point where you want the skirt to hit on your leg (or your child's leg). If you're planning to add a ruffle, then measure to where you want the main section of the skirt to hit (about 3 inches above the bottom of the skirt). Add 1 inch to the measurement for seam allowances. This new number will be the length of skirt you need to cut. Let's pretend you want the skirt to be 14 inches long plus a 3 inch ruffle. Add an inch to the 14 and you will need to cut 15 inches of fabric for the skirt.

3. You will use pretty much the entire width of the fabric for kid-sized skirts regardless of size. Cut the length you measured in step 2. Our pretend skirt is now 15 inches long by 44 inches wide (you used the entire width of fabric, remember?). At this point you can adjust how puffy the skirt will be by trimming the width of the skirt. If you want it to really puff out then use the full 44 inches. Want it a little less puffy? Cut a few inches off. I cut about 3 inches off the width of the cow fabric for the skirt in the picture. [Adult-size skirts may need to be wider than 44 inches...you'll need to cut two pieces and combine them to get the flounce you want.]

4. Fold the skirt in half with right sides together. Sew the short ends together and reinforce with a tight zigzag stitch to prevent fraying. You now have a giant tube. If you are not adding a ruffle, then you will need to hem the bottom of the skirt at this point.

5. Ruffle - Cut two strips of fabric that are 44 inches long by 3.5 inches wide. Sew the ends of the two strips right sides together to create another giant tube of fabric. Hem the ruffle.

6. Gathering - Using the longest stitch length on your machine, sew around the top of the skirt. Then sew around the top of the ruffle. DO NOT BACKSTITCH OR OVERLAP STITCHES. Pull the top thread of the ruffle to gather it. You want to make it the same size as the bottom of your skirt. Do not gather the skirt yet!

7. Sew the top edge of the ruffle to the bottom edge of the skirt with right sides together. Reinforce raw edges with tight zagzag stitch. (If you own a serger, I am assuming you aren't still reading this tutorial, but obviously you could serge all these raw edges too.)

8. Gather the top edge of the skirt until it is the same size as the bottom edge of the tank/tee. Sew the skirt to the tee with right sides together. Finish raw edges with a tight zigzag stitch.

9. Top-Stitching - I like to topstitch my ruffles so they lay better. To do this, flip the ruffle down and run a straight seam on the top side of the skirt, approximately 1/8 inch above the skirt/ruffle seam. Do not do this on the tank or you will have stretch problems when you try to put it on.

A NOTE ABOUT GENERAL MEASUREMENTS: The skirt is about twice as wide as the tank/tee. The ruffle is about twice as wide as the skirt. That's how you get the flounce. Adjust the ratio for more or less flounce.

Easter Egg Appliques

I remember that as a kid I loved to draw Easter eggs. The endless possiblities for combining squiggles, stripes, polkadots, and zigzags in a pretty much no-fail design was highly appealing. As long as you could get the outer shape to look sort-of egg like, then you were going to end up with a beautiful piece of kid-art.

As Easter approaches, I sat down to create some eggsellent designs. How quickly I was whisked back in time to 3rd grade! I just couldn't resist that drawing of old...the egg outline, a narrow stripe here, a wide polka-dotted stripe there, and a squiggle for good measure. I traced and cut out a set of the resulting pieces in both shades of pink and shades of blue. Stitched to brightly colored tee, these are a slightly fresh take on the pastel versions of old.

You can easily create Easter egg tee of your own using the applique tee directions I posted a few days ago. Start with a basic egg shape (you can find tons of templates for these in a google image search). Add your own flair with stripes and dots. New to applique...add just a few large polka dots. Experienced embroiderer (is that a word???)...pile on the decorations and embellish away. Too busy to sew...order one from Etsy today (see shop above).

Have fun...and I would love to see some pics of your results!

Felt Applique - How To

Creating a felt applique tee for your little one is super easy and the results are super cute!

1. First design your applique. I always do a pencil sketch that includes both the shpaes and the embellishments.

2. On another sheet of paper, trace the shapes that you will need to cut using a felt tip marker. Cut these shapes out.


3. Place your pattern pieces on the felt. I always try to minimize felt usage by placing the shapes as far into a corner as possible. You never know when that 1 inch scrap of felt might be the star of your next design:) Trace around your pattern pieces with a pen or marking chalk, then cut out the felt pieces.


4. Embroider each piece with the embellishments from your original design. You can use basic running stitches, back stitch, french knots, etc. to make each piece uniquely yours.

5. Place the pieces (starting with the background pieces) on the t-shirt. Be sure to center the design where you want it, then pin it to the shirt. Make sure that you pin only through the top layer of the tee.

6. Use your choice of stitch to attach each piece to the t-shirt. The basic running stitch is the least noticeable. A back stitch or whip stitch will figure more heavily into your design. Try to keep your stitches neat and even. Continue securing pieces until your design is finished.




* I do not use a fusible webbing on the inside of my shirts because Belle thinks it is itchy, but this is an option to protect your knots and stitches.

Wild Flower - The Outfit

I was so excited to share my Wild Flower tee that I had to post it before the entire outfit was ready. So here is the result. The pic isn't great...I was in a hurry, but you can still see how adorable it is! Look for a Fun Felt Applique How-to coming soon!