Hand Appliqued T Shirts

I apologize for the delay in my posting today. We've been out of town ALL DAY! Needless to say, I'm glad to be back home. Now it's back to business.

Appliqued T Shirts are easier to make than you might think. Here's a list of items you'll need to get started:

T shirt
Coordinating fabric*
Embroidery thread & needle
Image for t shirt**
Freezer paper
Heat n Bond Fusible Interfacing
Iron
Scissors or Pinking Shears
Pencil
Embroidery hoop (optional)
Fabric paint (optional)

*This is a great way to use outgrown, stained, ripped, or otherwise unworn clothing.
**If you have some artistic talent, you can sketch your own image like I did but you can get great applique images from coloring books too. I suggest starting with a simple image until you get comfortable with the process.

1. Cut down a section of coordinating fabric to a size slightly larger than your image.
2. Trace your image onto a section of freezer paper. If you plan to applique multiple fabrics then a freezer paper image for each fabric is necessary.
3. Using medium heat iron setting, iron the freezer paper to the RIGHT side of your fabric.
4. Cut down a section of Heat N Bond Fusible Interfacing and iron to WRONG side of fabric according to the package directions.
5. Cut out your image from your interfacing, fabric, freezer paper sandwich and gently peel away freezer paper.
6. Arrange your image on your t shirt RIGHT sides up.
7. Set aside all pieces except the bottom (or base image) of your applique cut out.
8. Iron bottom image to the t shirt per directions.
9. Stitch around edge with embroidery thread.
10. Add the next image layer and repeat steps 8 and 9.

An embroidery hoop will help hold the t shirt taught if you have trouble stitching around your applique. Another alternative is to run a bead of fabric paint around the edge of your applique.

If you like this idea, find other craft ideas, recipes, and home keeping tips at Frugal Front Porch.