February 4, 2011

latest made by me

Have you ever held onto a piece of clothing because you just weren't ready to let go? It just hadn't had a long enough life? 

I had a t-shirt once. The print was sweet, but those armpit stains...
not so much...bummer.

Enter t-shirt number two...hmmm. 

Inspiration. 

Ever heard of reverse applique? Want to learn how to let your favourite print live on?

Follow me.

First: two t-shirts: one printed, one plain.



Next cut out the elements of the print you wish to use.


Turn your plain t-shirt inside out and lay your printed piece of tee, printed side down in position. Pin like crazy to the front of the plain shirt...be careful not to catch the back of the shirt with your pins ;) Tip: a piece of cardboard, slipped inside the t-shirt as you pin, will make pinning to one layer only, a breeze.


When possible, always use a ballpoint needle in your machine, when sewing t-shirt material.


Your next step is to simply machine stitch, following the outline of your print. You don't have to too precise. Some free flow sewing is allowed and will, in fact, add interest. You can see I've been very liberal when "following" my original print.


Now roughly cut around your sewn print, removing excess fabric. 
No need to be too perfect!


Turn your t-shirt right way and out and begin cutting away your plain t-shirt fabric, inside the sewn lines/shapes you have created. I would recommend using small, needle nosed scissors for this part. Be careful not to cut your printed fabric underneath. I chose to cut very closely to the lines...about 1/8" or less. 
It's your preference.


 Here is the finished t-shirt. Neat huh?!





So simple. 

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Great tutorial Jacq. Neat photos too - You're one groovy mumma! Must be the rockstar influence from your last post. Xx

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

This is AMAZING! Amber emailed me about it and I'm so glad she did. I would love to link to this if you didn't mind.

Jacqueline said...

Thanks Rachel! I've been a daily follower of your site for years. Yes please! Go ahead and link me.

Jacqueline

Fancy Lads said...

This is amazing! Great job :)

Michelle L. said...

Wait! What???? This is inSANEly cute! I cannot express how much I love it. Great tutorial, too!

Heather said...

Absolutely fabulous! I have oodles of favorite tees that my boys have outgrown that this would be perfect for! :-)
Thanks for the cool tutorial!
Hettie, CelticMommy

Harvest Moon by Hand said...

Brilliant! What a beautiful way to reuse a t-shirt. Your work is both creative and very inspiring!

Jenn Erickson said...

Incredible! Beautiful job. I can't blame you for not wanting to get rid of that t-shirt, and love the way that you gave it a second fabulous life! Wow! I saw your post featured in a roundup at "One Pretty Thing" and am so glad I came by!

Your newest follower, Jenn/Rook No. 17

Stephanie said...

Thanks for the tutorial. I might have to try this. Came over here from One Pretty Thing.

Mrs. Nancy G said...

This will work perfectly for a shirt I picked up this weekend. Thanks for the inspiration!

:-)

Rachel said...

Came over here from One Pretty Thing. Glad I did, because I assumed it would be just another tutorial for reverse applique, which I already know. But what a brilliant way to save a design!

marla said...

amazing, you are just so creative :)

Dana said...

This is amazing! I was referred to your blog by a friend because I posted about an excellent Madonna With Child shirt I got from the thrift store-- which was a *leetel* bit too small.

http://zonapellucida.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/thrift-score-wednesdays-breaking-the-rules/

I might have to try this reverse applique technique, though my sewing skills are pretty sucky. Thank you for the play-by-play!