Another Craft I Have To Force Myself To Do In Moderation

I was going to start posting about some of our Hands On Christmas traditions this week- and I'm interrupting my plans because- I have discovered the most wonderful little project!! I bumped into this from Martha last week and I am head.over.heels people! Head over heals!

You can find all the directions via that link, so I won't retype them here, and there is even a fun video segment from the show. How creative, inexpensive, and simple!

Just think about the possibilities! They are endless!

Obviously this is great for kids and babies, but you can also make something tasteful for yourself! You can transfer onto clothing, tote bags, back packs, baby blankets, cloth napkins with your monogram, table cloths, drapes, throw pillows, even wall art! Whatever you want! These starter projects of mine were pretty tame, but I just wanted to get a taste for it. I couldn't believe how easy this was!

And the GREATEST thing about this idea, after the incredibly large amount of options for personalization, is this: Think about it: Your child spills an impossible-to-get-out stain on their shirt, or you accidentally snag a favorite shirt of your own (like I did!)- you could go find some funky fabric and make a cover up! You don't have to throw out that lovely shirt! You might be able to patch it up cool-style!

Above you see yet another hole Bebo tore in my shirt while I was holding him.

Does this look like a bird here? It's a bird. And now the hole is..."gone".

You can take your own pictures to create silhouettes, free hand them, or search the Internet for images that will work. Do an etsy search for appliqued shirts for inspiration too. You can create your own stencils just by cutting out and around your favorite images- and you can make letters to size using your Word processor and cutting them out for your project. There are so many ideas!

Here's a butterfly I cut out, taken from a public domain site I love.

And here's a shirt I made for a little lady I love...

I confess, I made a LOT of different shirts for the people I love. Everyone but Jim. He's not in to applique. Even if it's trendy.

Just think: letters, names, animals, anything- You can go crazy with your bad self with some ultra-fun prints from the remnant section of the fabric store and coordinating colored shirts, etc... I got a steal on fabric! Remnants are usually 50% off the regular fabric price, and that weekend, they were an additional 50% off! And I found some awesome prints! You could also use fabric from a shirt etc. from your closet or a thrift store that has a cool print on the fabric, but perhaps isn't being worn for another reason, like weird style, etc.

Some tips I'll add:

1. I do not sew. I do not sew. I'll say it again...I do not sew! Sew. Er, ah, So, since I don't sew, I skipped that whole stitch-around-the-edge step. I got some heavy duty fusible web (under $3 a yard), though and it has worked very well. It's super strong. I'm impressed. I purposely chose cotton fabrics that were "less" likely to fray over time, though- you can just tell which ones will have a tendency to fray- look at an edge that has already been cut- is it fraying a bunch? There you go.
2. Don't forget to pre-wash your fabric. I was a rebel and didn't prewash, and it all came out fine after washing the finished product, but just in case, don't forget!

3. If you don't have a very sharp, nice pair of fabric scissors- preferably the smaller kind that can turn on a dime as you cut out intricate shapes, you will need some for this- you need a good, super-sharp pair of scissors!


4. The instructions say to use a black sharpie, but I liked using a sharp pencil instead- it helped me get more intricate and kept me from accidentally getting marker on the fabric!!


I am just in love. I made like, 10 different things. Can't wait to hear what you come up with!