The Applique Tank-Top

 Hello Readers. I made a shirt around this applique piece I found at a thrift store. It was super simple and I didn't use a pattern. I made it up as I went along. That is how I do most things and this time, it turned out great. 

Before and after. 

I like to go thrifting and one day I found some pretty pieces of needle point. Someone with an old fashioned name (Eunice, Evelyn...) spent a lot of time on this piece and the one peeking out from under it. These were really beautiful, complicated works of art. And they were being sold for 33 cents each????? (The disrespect!) There was no way I was leaving these behind. I didn't know I was going to make a shirt when I bought them but I took them home. 

 

I thought this orange fabric really highlighted the orange flowers and the blue stitches around the edges told me what color thread to use to sew around the outside of the piece when I sewed it to the shirt fabric. 

  

I made a wide rectangle, almost twice my size when I measured around my body. (It does not need to be exact. But I wanted it to be roomy and comfortable. I was basically making a tube with straps. I sewed the needle point piece in the center of the rectangle. That would be the front of my shirt. 

 

I made 2 straps for the shoulders. I didn't have a ton of fabric so that is why this shirt was a tank-top. 

 

I turned the edges under and sewed them down and then I added elastic to the inside of the shirt around the waist. That would give the shirt shape and make it fit well. 

 

I added elastic to the top edge as well and then attached the straps. 

 

I loved the blue stitching I did around the piece to attach it to the shirt. It's a great summer top. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.