Three little tees

I have been stocking up on summer t-shirts for my children...including plenty of inexpensive ones that they can play in, paint in or just get dirty in. I know how quickly their t-shirts get covered in stains...or a mysterious hole in them (which strangely often appears after some sort of crafty project involving scissors...hmmm.)

I usually buy inexpensive but good quality plain t-shirts for them, but my little girl, who is almost four, now refuses to wear a t-shirt unless it has a picture on it. So to keep her happy (and me too!) I have been adding my own embellishments to the t-shirts.

Three little hearts...one heart was cut from a scrap of spotty fabric, the other two from a pretty piece of floral fabric, picked up in an op-shop. The hearts were applied using an iron-on adhesive, and blanket stitch.

Three little owls cut from patterned fabric and ironed on...

And a layered flower, made from three fabric scraps, with a pink button sewn in the centre.

All of the embellishments were quick, easy and fun to make, and little Miss A is happy to have 'pictures' on her t-shirts.

I Heart Applique

A little crafty project I really enjoy is applique. Nothing too tricky or complicated. Just a simple shape, on a tee, cushion, tote...or anything really. And I love to blanket stitch. I find it quite relaxing and satisfying, and most of the time I like to finish off the applique with a blanket stitch around the edge. But not always, because it isn't essential, and it can take a little while to do.

This heart was cut from a little piece of vintage cotton fabric, and the finished tee is a gift for a friend's baby girl.

On another note, last night I set up a flickr account and had a go at uploading a few photos. I found it really easy to use, and I loved the editing program picnik. However when I tried to find the images from blogger and insert them into a post, I couldn't find a way to make it work. Does anyone do this? Is it possible?

A Little Less "Girly"

My son has been complaining lately that my hand crafted items are mostly for girls. With my daughter often trying out new hair accessories, brooches etc as I am working on them, my son, bless him, has been feeling a little left out.

So together we set out to create something a little less less girly. I had some inexpensive children's t-shirts set aside that I had picked up on sale. They were plain and I had intended to use a bit of creative flair to spruce them up.

Being a little short on time this particular day, I needed to keep my project fairly simple. I had some fabric leftover from making my son's library bag earlier in the year (see I do make things for him) which had on it some great little monsters, perfect for a quick appliqué project.

My son also created his own t.shirt design, which I must admit, took a lot more time to make than mine, and did turn out rather splendidly. It is certainly a wearable design, however I'm not quite sure how it will hold up in the wash, as most of his fabric was attached with double sided craft tape!

Modelling his masterpiece

When I showed my finished project to my son, he looked at it rather blankly and then commented on the amount of space still left on the shirt! I guess I like my designs to be a little more minimal than he does. (Oh, and I did manage to squeeze in a simple 'girly' shirt too).

 

On the shop front...the first of my fold up shopping bags are available, plus an adorable new set of hair elastics made from upcycled fabric.

So handy!