Tutorial: Upcycle your kids favorite shirt
This is a quick and simple tutorial, great for even a very beginner seamstress to do! This came about because my sons very very favorite Thomas the Tank Engine tshirt had gotten too small and quite ratty. This is a way to give it new life!
Materials:
Old ratty tshirt that you’re child has to be bribed to take off
New blank tshirt in a size they can grow into
Heat N Bond or Heat N Bond Lite
Sewing machine/scissors, etc.
Instructions:
First start off with the old ratty tshirt, as evidenced here:
Cut out whatever motif makes it so special to create what will become a patch in essence. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but try and get as smooth of a cut as you can. This shirt had a really big picture on it, so I had to be careful when I cut. Feel free to dump the rest of the old tshirt in the trash can, hide the pieces if necessary! HA!
Next, take your cut out piece, and iron a piece of heat n bond on the back. You can either trace your shape onto it first and cut it out then line up and iron; or using an applique pressing sheet just press the patch onto a piece of heat n bond slightly larger, then trim.
Take your patch and peel off the paper backing, then place it on the new blank tshirt wherever you want it. Again, this was a large piece, so centering it as it was on the original shirt was the best way to keep little man happy. When you have it in place, use your iron to bond it in place.
Now, this is a kids item, and I’m all about making things last as long as possible, so we’re also going to stitch this down (over time the heat n bond will lose it’s “stickiness” and come unglued). I used invisible thread for this one, but using matching or even contrasting thread is fine, depending on the look you’re going for.
Use a medium width zig zag stitch and go all the way around your patch to secure it..being sure to back stitch at the beginning and end of your stitching line.
At this point, you can cover the inside with a cover stitch material or you can leave it as is. I usually cover all things like this, but Wyatt was not interested in waiting. So go ahead and give them their brand spankin’ new shirt! Then try to get some pictures to show how happy they are with the finished product and get some like this:
Or this:
Or this:
Then you give up and wait till laundry day, grab a picture and then put it into the Froggy Girl Designs Flickr Pool!
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask away! I hope this has helped inspire!
