applique Archives - Page 8 of 8 - Ashley Hackshaw / Lil Blue Boo

Pink Pirate et al

April 14, 2009 by Ashley Hackshaw

I just finished this Pink Pirate outfit for Sienna. (click for tutorial here) I usually don’t do skull and crossbones (it upsets my mom) but I had this cute Michael Miller Goth Baby fabric laying around that I picked up at Mary Jo’s in NC this past summer. I am working on putting together a tutorial for it and should have it up in the next day or so. I made it from a tank and skort that I found at Target and just added some reverse applique and rhinestones. Reverse applique is so easy and anyone can do it. I am such an impatient crafter…..I want everything done pronto. Yours will turn out a lot better if you sew a little slower than I do 😉

Close-up of reverse applique on the tank. I added a little felt bow with hand-stitching to the head.

Close-up of the skort.

Since I am on the topic reverse applique I thought I would post some photos of another project I did a while ago. I made the below t-shirt pants out of a plain white men’s undershirt for Sienna when she was a year old and added the reverse applique using remnants of a black t-shirt. I made a matching shirt as well. It was a cute outfit. The design was from part of a wall stencil I had.

Close-up of reverse applique on the pants:

Another close-up of reverse applique on the pants:

Close-up of reverse applique on the shirt. I added a spade shape under part of the wall stencil.

Applique Cherry Tree Shirt and Ruffle Pants

April 5, 2009 by Ashley Hackshaw

It is so easy to customize kids’ clothes using applique. I remember my mother making us Christmas sweaters using applique and “puffy paint” twenty years ago….there will not be any photos posted of those outfits….ever. I am aware that this is the oldest trick in the book but I thought I would share my process anyway for those who are new to it….I am going to post a tutorial next.

This is an outfit I made recently for my friend Jackie’s daughter for her 1st birthday. I used my favorite pattern for the pants/capris and just added the little pink polka dot ruffle at the bottom.

Applique Cherry Tree Shirt and Ruffle Pants via lilblueboo.com

The applique I made by cutting out the tree from the lighter fabric and adding small round “cherry blossoms” using the pink fabric and small pink buttons. I hand-stitched the detail on the pink cherry blossoms using turquoise DMC thread. I used a white baby gap t-shirt because I like the weight of the fabric and the little scalloped edges.

Applique Cherry Tree Shirt and Ruffle Pants applique via lilblueboo.com

I took a picture of the outfit once it was boxed because it looked so cute with the little tag and ribbon. I printed the tag on regular paper in my inkjet printer but I was so worried about the ink rubbing off on the outfit that I sewed a peice of vellum to the top of it. The tag has washing instructions: wash on delicate, lay flat to dry.

Applique Cherry Tree Shirt and Ruffle Pants gift via lilblueboo.com

I made a similar outfit for Sienna. The pants are a little different from the pair showed above. Instead of a ruffle I added a large pink band at the bottom. I also adjusted the pattern a little to make the pant leg wider.

Applique Cherry Tree Shirt and Ruffle Pants on via lilblueboo.com

Applique Tutorial

April 5, 2009 by Ashley Hackshaw

Here is my applique tutorial. Please let me know if you need more detail so I can add it. This isn’t my favorite outfit I’ve made, but the photos will show the process I went through. These little pants I made last summer for Sienna and they still fit….just a little shorter, but cuter as capris. She grew out of the top I made for her so I bought this $4 tank from Target to add applique to.

First, I took some of the extra fabric I kept from the pants and cut a piece of Wonder-Under adhesive web just slightly smaller. Wonder-Under is made by Pellon and is a paperbacked adhesive web that turns any fabric into a fusible fabric. I placed the rough side of the Wonder-Under against the wrong side of the fabric and pressed for 8 seconds with a dry, hot iron to fuse the web to the fabric.

Applique Tutorial step 1 via lilblueboo.com

Once the fabric was cool I took my tiny detail scissors and cut out several butterflies from the fabric. I used one of the butterflies as a template on another small piece of fabric that I had ironed Wonder-Under onto (left over from the ruffle of the pants). I cut that butterfly silhouette out as well. Note that the paper-backing is still on.

Applique Tutorial step 2 via lilblueboo.com

After cutting out several butterfly shapes, I gently peeled of the paper backing from the Wonder-Under and placed the shapes web side down on the tank. I cut small pieces of ribbon (longer than needed) for antennae and stuck them down underneath the butterflies.

Applique Tutorial step 3 via lilblueboo.com

For the final fusing, I covered each butterfly with a damp press cloth. With the iron at wool setting, I pressed firmly for 10-15 seconds and repeated this lifting and overlapping the iron until all the fabric pieces were fused. After removing the press cloth, I ironed the fabric to remove the excess moisture.

Applique Tutorial step 4 via lilblueboo.com

Next, I used my sewing machine to stitch an outline around each butterfly. This adds some detail and also makes certain they stay put. The stitching also secured the antennae in place. Tip: when you are finished sewing take the ends of the thread from the starting point and the finish point and tie them together into knots before trimming the excess thread. This keeps your stitching from unraveling.

Applique Tutorial step 5 via lilblueboo.com

Next, I trimmed the butterfly antennae to the desired length and used a little bit of stitching glue on the ends to keep them from fraying.

Applique Tutorial step 6 via lilblueboo.com

On the odd butterfly I added some hand-stitched detail around the edges with green DMC thread.

Applique Tutorial step 7 via lilblueboo.com

I also stitched a body and antennae for this butterfly and added some buttons on its wings.

Applique Tutorial step 8 via lilblueboo.com

I always use a small piece of lightweight fusible interfacing (by Pellon) on the inside of the shirt to keep the hand-stitched detail in place. It protects the detail and also keeps the thread from itching the person wearing it. I drew a small outline about 1/2″ all the way around the stitching onto the fusible interfacing as a guide before cutting it into the shape I needed. Then I placed the coated side of the interfacing on the wrong side of the fabric and covered with a damp press cloth. With the iron at medium steam I fused the interfacing to the inside of the shirt holding the iron down firmly for 10-15 seconds.

Applique Tutorial step 9 via lilblueboo.com

Here are the finished butterflies on the tank top.

Applique Tutorial step 10 via lilblueboo.com

I even added one to the bottom back.

Applique Tutorial step 11 via lilblueboo.com

Finished outfit!

Applique Tutorial finished via lilblueboo.com