I’ve had these shirts in my head for a while and so I thought I would share a rare Saturday tutorial with you so you have time to make it before Valentine’s if you want! (If you are looking for Sewing Survey Saturday we’ll be back again next week with last week’s results.) I wanted these to be wearable year round, but still have a little bit of a Heart Day vibe. Of course, who can resist the bunting, and it was a lot of fun finding fun fabric scraps to fussy cut. I love that the twill ribbon creates a “faux yoke” on the shirt front.

Thankfully the tees came out like I’d hoped and they are really quick to make. I think I spent about 1/2 hour on each shirt.  My oldest even pronounced it the best shirt I have ever made for her. Even though I only appliqued a store-bought one. A little effort on my part = a happy daughter. It’s a win, win situation! And, if you wanted, this would look super-cute on a baby bib or a onesie too – a quick shower gift maybe?

Of all of the things to be proud of I think I am most happy that I actually used my cross-stitching skills from 15 (or more) years ago! I had to remember how to separate the embroidery floss to put some hand-stitching around the appliqued heart. I love how it looks. It’s those little touches that make the piece special. Please tell me you are proud to have a secret past with cross-stitching in it too!?

 

Wanna make one?

You will need:

  • store bought (or homemade) shirt
  • twill/ribbon the width of the shirt + 10″ for the bow
  • 3 fabric scraps for the bunting (roughly 3″x3″ each)
  • 1 fabric scrap for the tiny heart (roughly 1.5″x1.5″ each)
  • Steam-A-Seam or other fusible web product
  • school glue stick
  • ballpoint needle for your sewing machine
  • Hand embroidery needle
  • Embroidery floss to compliment/contrast the heart
  • iron, sewing machine, scissors, pins

Here we go:

Step 1: Find some super-cute fabric and fussy cut it out to make the triangles. My triangles are 2 1/2″ on each side and 2″ across the top. Free-hand cut a heart. It helps to fold your fabric in half and cut half a heart, so each side is the same when you unfold it. My heart is just over 1″ x 1″.

Step 2: Cut your fusible web to match the triangle shapes and heart shape. Use the extra 10″ of ribbon (you likely won’t need all of it) to make a bow. Lay everything out the way you want on the shirt front with the fusible web underneath the triangles and heart.  The twill ribbon along the top of the triangles should overhang the sleeve seams by 1/2″ on each side. Make sure everything looks the way you’d like it to when you are finished. TIP: My bunting is off to the left – not centred on the shirt. It looks a bit more artistic, and the bow visually centres it when you are finished.

Step 3: Remove the ribbon and bow. Iron the triangles and heart onto your shirt as per your fusible web directions. I used a press cloth to avoid getting stray glue on my iron.

Step 4: Use a small zig-zag to stitch around your bunting triangles. Don’t stitch the heart, we will do that later.

Step 5: (a) Use a glue stick to fold the edges of your long twill ribbon 1/2 under on each end. Pin/Glue the ribbon onto your shirt, making sure the ends meet up with the edges of the sleeve seams. (b) Stitch around the twill ribbon. I used a straight stitch and sewed as close to all 4 edges (sides and ends) as I could.

Step 6: Separate out 3 strands of embroidery floss and run some small hand-stitches around the heart. Begin and end at the back of the shirt and tie them together with a triple-knot when you are done.

Step 7: Use a bar-tack or a straight stitch on both sides of the centre of your bow to secure it to the shirt and ensure it does not come untied.

All finished – Send it over to a tiny fashion-ista or give it to your little Valentine.

As always, I’d love to see your handiwork! You can share your projects on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #alongforthreadride, or post them on the Thread Riding Hood Facebook page. And, of course, if you have any questions please be sure to contact me on all of the above or email sherri@threadridinghood.com. I’d love to hear from you!