In the Sewing Room

I have been one busy body in the sewing room lately.  A friend let me borrow their sewing machine and I've gone nuts making tees.  Here's a little of what I've been up to!

Remember those bleached out tees we made this past summer?  This one didn't turn out so well, so a little plaid applique was the perfect solution!

For back to school, a custom-designed art smock from mom!  This "i heart art" one was a larger project than I would normally tackle myself, but it turned out well.  I'll share a tutorial and a story about the sharpie incident in the future!

Are you ready for some football?  We are in this house!  We've got our his and hers spirit wear ready for the season.  I also made a tee for my daughter in the colors for the local high school team (which also happens to be big bro's team colors).  I haven't taken a pic of that one yet, but will post when I do!

And of course, we're gearing up for Halloween with our witch boots and black kitty tees!  I also made two ghosts tees which I love, again...just haven't taken pics yet!

So, if you've been wondering where ole' lizard rae has been.....now you know!  

On top of these tees, I've made some more for an upcoming family wedding, got crafty for a wedding shower, and am working on a halloween costume.  We've also been on the football fields almost every day and have spent our weekends at the pumpkin patches and apple orchards.  I've got plenty of goodies and pictures to share.....just very little time to share it.  For now, packing for a trip to VA BEACH for this weekend!  I'm off to shoot (my first wedding) with my husband (screeeech).  Yes, I'm a nervous wreck.  Good thing he knows what he's doing and will re-take a picture of everything I try and get.  I am really hoping we won't have to rely on anything I shoot.  Maybe I'll just get a few bonus goody shots and will be happily surprised!

I would love to sit here in my pjs on the computer all day and blog away, but in my glamorous real life, the dog has thrown up again (a daily thing for the past week) and I have to go clean it up and give him another bath.

Wish me luck!

Show Daddy Some Love

I see all of these cute little boy onesies and tees with a necktie everywhere.  Why not make a one for the little girls so the little ladies can show daddy some love!?  Who says girls can't wear ties, or suspenders!? 

I had purchased this tank last year for a family fun magazine craft idea for my daughter, but I never got around to making it before she outgrew it.  Luckily, she has a younger cousin.  Last week, I visited my family in SC and my mom, sis-in-law and I got a little crazy with the sewing machine.  We made tie tanks, crabs, anchors, seahorses....you name it.  I'll share them all, promise.  But for now, here's how we did the tie tank.

You'll need:

1 Tank or T-shirt
Scrap fabric, I chose pink with white polka dots
Heat n Bond
Fusible Webbing
Tie Template
Copier
Sewing Machine (Which I don't have.  So do as I do, and find a mom, aunt, or sister that sews and beg them to do it for you!  BTW, thanks Mom)


I am absolutely amateur, so if you're like me and have no clue what Heat n Bond or Fusible Webbing is click HERE and HERE.  I bought mine at my local Wally-World (Wal-Mart).  You could also find it at Jo-Ann's, Hobby Lobby, or plan ahead and purchase from www.createforless.com for a good price.

For the tie template, I had one leftover from some father's days card and paper projects.  I found it HERE.

Here's how:

Print and Cut the template, then enlarge it to fit your tank using your copier.  Cut a rectangle of fusible webbing 1" larger than your tie template and iron it to the inside of the tank.  Also cut a rectangle of Heat n' Bond 1" larger than your template and iron onto your scrap of fabric, following package instructions.  Then, using your paper template as a guide, trace and cut out tie shapes.  Peel back the Heat n' Bond and iron your two necktie pieces onto the front of the tank.  Then, sew the edges using a zig zag stitch.  That's it!

Project Time: 1 hour Max!

She's working it, no!?

This project linked up here:

Bleached out Tee's!

I recently stumbled on a new magazine in Barnes & Noble and fell in love.  I was inspried by the custom bleached shirts I saw and decided to give it a go myself.  Here's what I did.  Using my computer, I printed numbers and anchors from clip art images I have on a print shop program.  You could also use clip art from Word or Google images.  With my copier, I enlarged and/or reduced the images as needed to fit on the tees.  I used card stock so that once I cut the images out, I had a template ready to go.

 Using my templates, I then traced the shapes onto freezer paper.  I cut the shape from freezer paper and ironed them onto my shirts, following the instructions listed directly on the freezer paper box.  Be sure to iron the edges down really well.  I didn't do that on a few shirts and the bleached leaked under the stencil.

 
Make sure you have an area outside prepped for business.  We put black plastic sheeting down to protect the landscape and everyone wore gloves, aprons and art smocks.  The kids also wore protective googles (aka swim goggles).  We inserted cardboard squares inside the shirts.  We filled squirt guns and spray bottles with bleach, undiluted.  We liked the spray bottles best, and liked changing the nozzle for a streamlined or full spray.  The squirt guns were harder to fill and leaked a bit too much.

Once the kiddos had sprayed down the shirt with their preferred spray pattern, I took a hose and washed down the shirt.  The water also released the freezer paper pattern.  We then took the shirts inside to machine launder and dry.

Instant Custom Tees!!

Tips:  Some colors worked great.  We had great luck with red, navy, and teal.  Grey and pink did not turn out as well.  Don't be afraid to let the clorox sit long enough to see the color start to change.  I was nervous about burning holes into the shirts and didn't leave the bleach on long enough for some of the tees.

To find out more about the magazine that inspired this project, check out this post.

This project is linked up here:

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