Simple Appliqued Sweatshirt

 Hello Readers. Today is election day. I hope you can get out and vote if you are in the U.S. I wanted to make a shirt for the day that went with the voting theme. (I really love a shirt with a theme.) I wanted spell out the word vote but this idea would work for any word. (Thankful for Thanksgiving, Love for Valentine's Day, Luck for St. Patrick's Day...) I don't have a fancy embroidery sewing machine so let me show you how I did this.

Vote!

 

This sweatshirt was plain and simple and it would be a perfect base for adding some letters. 

 

I had a small piece of cotton fabric with the names of the states. It would be perfect for my letters. And the fabric looked pretty good with my sweatshirt. 

 

The thing that made this project so simple was fusible interfacing. Follow the instructions on the packaging to iron this onto the fabric you want to make your letters out of. 

I used my iron to fuse the interfacing to my fabric. I put my fabric face down and put the bumpy side facing the fabric. I used some scrap white cotton as a barrier between that and my iron. I made my 4 small rectangles because I knew I was going to make 4 letters.

 

The interfacing made the fabric a little thicker and stiffer. It would be easier to handle, cut and sew like this. 

I used a ruler to help me sketch out my letters. I made boxy letters with straight lines. They were easy to draw and they will be easier to sew to my sweatshirt. I used pencil because it will wash out easily.

I cut out all my letters following the pencil lines I drew. 

I arranged my letters on my sweatshirt and made sure I liked the arrangement. These are off center for 2 reasons.

 1. It looked more fun to me. 

2. If I try to line the letters up perfectly straight and they shift even a little in the sewing process, it will be very obvious. Doing it this way will make it easier later. 

I pinned the letters to the sweatshirt. I put pins in all around the letters and made sure they were in different directions to keep the letters in place the best I could while I was sewing.

I used a wide zigzag stitch to attach the letters to the shirt. I sewed all around the edges of the letters. This will keep the edges from fraying and keep the shirt in good condition wash after wash. 

I used different color thread for each letter just for fun. The colors you use are up to you. 

When I was done it was a little wrinkled and the letters had shifted a bit in a couple spots but it's OK. I am not trying to launch a rover to Mars, it doesn't have to be perfect. We are here for a good time, don't stress. I loved how my shirt turned out.

 

 I ironed the whole shirt to smooth out the letters.

My shirt was finished. 

 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. And vote if you can.

***Year End Update***- I liked this lettering so much. I planned to try it again.

 

 

 

Applique on Denim

 Hello Readers. If there is one thing I love is a theme to follow when I think of sewing projects. Is it Valentine's Day soon? Than I am definitely going to sew at least one thing with a heart on it. I can't help myself. I have to do it. So read on for a simple project you can do for Valentine's Day.

 

Before and after.

 

I had this little heart. (I did not do the needlework.) I have had it for quite a while. I wanted to do something with it for Valentine's Day. I thought I should cut out the heart shape to highlight the design.

 

 Any non-stretch fabric will do. You don't need fancy needlework. Grab some fabric with hearts or Valentine colors. Cut out a heart shape and you are ready to go.

 

I knew if I used some fusible interfacing this would be a lot easier. The directions are easy to follow. One side of the interfacing is bumpy, that side faces the back of your fabric and will stick to it when you apply the heat of the iron. Make sure you iron the interfacing as directed on the package.

 

 I used my iron to stick this interfacing on the back of the fabric heart I was using. I just ironed them together following the directions on the package. It only took a couple minutes.

The interfacing makes the fabric a little stronger and thicker. It makes it more stable and easier to cut out the heart accurately and it will be easier to sew the heart to my jacket. 

 

Here is a look at a fabric heart with and with out interfacing. You can see what a difference it can make when I compare the 2 hearts.
 

I thought the off-white and red colors would work with blue denim well. I also knew it would be easy to sew the heart and the denim together because neither fabric had any stretch to it. Both pieces would behave well while I was sewing.

I pinned and pinned and pinned so the heart wouldn't go anywhere. I didn't want it to shift around while I was sewing.

I used bright red thread and a wide zigzag stitch to sew around the heart. The red zigzag stitches would make the red needlework really pop. You could hand sew the heart onto the jacket but I wanted to use my machine.

 

You can see how the zigzag stitch crosses back and forth over the edge of the heart to hold it on to the jacket.
 

 I love the heart. It brightens the jacket up a little but it could be worn anytime, not just Valentine's Day. I hope your day is wonderful, and full of chocolates, flowers and whatever you like. 

***Year End Update- I really like adding details like this to my clothes and I still wear this jacket a lot.