I'm a real jeans and t-shirt girl and an idea had been bubbling away in my head for a while now to try a make a more vintagey-looking shirt with a bit of embroidery and "new-school" applique. (I call it new-school so you don't turn away shuddering with images of '90s country sunflowers or Raggedy-Andys.)
I found a really nice fitting black tee at my local factory outlet shop and I thought for $3, it doesn't matter if it goes wrong.
I sewed it all on my machine just using a straight stitch and went around all the applique about three times, purposely going out of the lines for a shabby feel.
Tried it on, wore it to work with jeans...I'm very happy. I think it would also go well with a skirt.
(I washed it today for a sturdiness test which it passed. Phew!)
So I think I'll be going back for more t-shirts. I've got another few designs running around in my head.
Love it Esther :))) Really nice... and yup the bird look is popular at the mo... but its def coz its cute like u said... Grace and I are both partial to the 'birds'... tho she is also in love with the 'Owls' that are also everywhere... Love xo
ReplyDeletethat's awesome! great t-shirt design!
ReplyDeleteI've thought of stitching into t-shirts too, but was concerned with it being stretchy material.
Yes, an owl was one of the other designs I was going to do, along with a Union Jack and some trees.
ReplyDeleteWhen I sewed I used a longer stitch so it had some give, although the shirt I used wasn't really stretchy to start with. I was going to do the Union Jack on a black singlet I had but that is ribbed and a little more stretchy so I'm not sure.
Also, usually when I used to do applique I would use iron-on paper to make it stick first, but I didn't have any so I left that step out. Consequently when I sewed the bird on, it was a little 'puffy' but I think that helped with the stretching.
Oooh I really love it, I have such a thing for birds.
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