Applique Shirts – Hand Stitch Shirts DIY Craft
Applique Shirts – DIY Craft – Hand Stitch Shirts. Get ready to hand-stitch t-shirts with cute designs! Make designs with sayings, places, favorite teams… and seasonal designs! The possibilities are endless for making DIY Embroidery Shirts.
Not too long ago my granddaughter came to visit. I love seeing her enjoy crafting as much as we do. And a trip to the fabric store with zero results for what we went for. Except that the T-shirts were on sale!
Applique Shirts
I asked her if there were any projects she’d seen or would like to do with them. And this hand-stitched raw edge applique project was started. She picked a cute design “Howdy” and I decided to make Halloween T-shirts. I made one to wear and one to gift.
What makes this a raw edge project is the lettering and designs are not tucked under making a seam for a finished edge. Over time the edges may fray (depending on how the shirt is washed or cared for) but the lettering and designs will stay on the shirt by the hand-sewn technique and using embroidery stitches or the basic sewing stitches.
For this project, we used a basic running stitch! We have linked to a helpful tutorial if you haven’t done a craft like this before. It’s in step 5 of the instructions.
My designs and applique shirts ended up being “Spooky Season“ and “Howdy” With a Pumpkin in a cowboy/cowgirl hat and with a cup of coffee, PSL of course.
All you need for the hand-sewn craft project is to know how to thread a needle, make a knot, and do a running stitch. Grab a design or font. Cut it out in fabric and make your own Applique T-shirt by hand stitching it.
Supplies
Are you learning how to hand-sew? Or do you need a resource for stitches? Get this book – Embroidery: A Step-by-Step Guide To 200 Stitches. I still use this book as a resource.
- Gildan Unisex T-Shirts (Amazon) T-Shirts (Michael’s)
You can buy them in sets or individually and in different sizes. - Cotton Fabrics (Quarters) Fabric Pink Halloween Prints (fav) or Traditional Halloween Prints Colored Fabric
- Needles (or) (Needle Set that includes a seam ripper) (Seam Ripper)
- Thread (or) Embroidery Floss/Thread
- Ball Head Straight Pins
- Sewing Scissors
- Fray Check (optional but, helpful see craft hand-sewing tips)
- Embroidery Hoop (optional)
It can help keep fabric separated and taunt. - Use a Pattern Template, or Design, or Font Design (or Idea)
CreativeFabrica has designs and fonts that will work for crafts like this.
Shop our list on Amazon which includes cute fabric picks!
Craft Project Design Tips
My granddaughter used Canva and I used Canva and Cricut Design Space to combine my sign. Both have free options for designing. Additionally, you can use pre-made graphic designs and fonts for crafts like an SVG file. I’ll list options below to help you.
For The Howdy T-shirt; Howdy was made with the Font HORIZON on Canva Letters sized 165. You will need to place it on two lines. HOW on one line and DY on the other line. It will fit on one 8.5x 11 design. But, I think this handwritten font Howdy Rodeo would be awesome too.
For my T-Shirt designs; I used the design (graphic) Spooky Season in Canva with a Pro Account. But, linked above to a similar font design you can get and use. Then I went into Cricut Design Space and laid out the T-shirt Applique design using a pumpkin and overlaying a cowgirl hat. Hiding certain elements that weren’t needed and then going to make it but, only printing the design. Or save all the trouble of doing that and use this Howdy Pumpkin design is similar to the one I designed.
CreativeFabrica has designs and fonts that will work for crafts like this. I think this Halloween skeleton cat design would be cute. Or a witch riding a broom. Howdy Pumpkin (font with words) or this Howdy Pumpkin design is similar to the one I designed.
Hand Sewing Tips
- If you use embroidery thread you will need a needle with a bigger eye and to separate the threads for the project (using 1 or 2 threads).
- No matter what thread you use pick quality thread. You don’t want the threads breaking. I shared my two favorites on the supply list!
- When sewing do not pull the thread too tight it will bunch the fabric you are sewing.
- When sewing make sure to keep the layers of the T-shirt separated and apart from each other. Or use an embroidery hoop to help with that.
- Note: I did pull a little tighter for the pumpkin lines to give it the pouf look.
I considered adding poly-fil stuffing but, opted not to on this one. - I added a heart cut out of fabric that had the black cat with pumpkin in orange and black. I also added twine to show the hat brim line. I hot-glued that on.
- If you don’t want to use straight pins to hold down the project when working you can use products like lightweight fusible interfacing, heat and bond ultra-lightweight, (but make sure your placement is correct for any method you choose), or a washable school glue stick.
- For any stitches that seemed too loose or for the knots on the back I used a dab of liquid stitch to help hold it in place. You can also use fray check if you don’t want the edges fraying (and for securing the stitches too). I’ve used both products when sewing and crafting and they both work great!
How To Applique on T-Shirts
Instructions
- Wash and dry the T-shirts to remove the sizing. Pre-wash any fabric you will use to avoid shrinkage.
Or only wash the T-shirts with the design in cold water and hang dry them. It will make them last longer too. - Print the design onto printer paper and cut out the design with craft or paper scissors.
- Cut out the fabric with sewing scissors, by laying the pattern on top of the right side of the fabric. Pin the paper in place and cut the fabric.
Do not use craft scissors. Sewing scissors will give you a sharp clean cut. Do not use sewing scissors to cut paper. It will dull your scissors. - Layout the design on the T-shirt and pin it in place.
Be sure to pin it only to the front (or back) side where you will sew (one layer). - Begin to hand sew the fabric to the T-shirt (removing pins as you sew); Thread the needle, knot it, and sew along the edges (a little bit away from the edge) of the fabric cut out with a running stitch. When you come near the end of the thread leave enough room to tie a knot off on the back side of the T-shirt. Repeat the process until your letters or designs are hand-sewn securely to the fabric.
Tada! You made your applique T-shirt. Be sure to tag us on social media with what you crafted.
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Helpful Video Tutorials
- How To Needle Turn Applique 3 Ways (How to turn under edges and traditional techniques).
- Hand Stitching Applique For Beginners
- Fabric Applique Sew and No Sew T-shirt Applique (sewing machine and no-sew). You will need (heat and bond for T-shirts use lightweight heat and bond).
- How To Applique on a T-shirt (by hand). You will not need a dress form to do this. For the demonstration, she uses a dress form. But, you can see how to sew stitches and fabric to the T-shirt.
What is the difference between applique and patchwork?
Appliqué, patchwork, and joinery are techniques used in fabric and textile crafts, mainly in quilting and sewing. The following are the key differences between them:
Applique: Appliqué involves attaching one fabric to another to create a decorative design. This is often done by stitching the edges of the appliqué piece onto a base fabric.
Patchwork: Patchwork is a technique that involves sewing together small pieces of fabric to create a larger piece with/without no base fabric. Here, the intent is not to make a pattern/design.
To see the full explanation of each visit the (Reference Source).
