Sew Cute

My youngest son loves ties! He sees his Dad and his big brothers wearing ties, so he thinks it's just fabulous and fun to add one to any old shirt. It doesn't matter what the occasion is, or if it matches his outfit -- or even if the shirt has a collar!

The photo above was taken at the U2 concert this summer. My son picked out the entire outfit and then threw the tie on as we were walking out the door. I truly thought he was just playing around, but he wore the tie for the entire two hour car trip, and then into the concert.(And actually kept it on the entire concert, despite the 98 degree evening.) People loved his tie, and complimented him frequently. He just beamed! From that day on, the boy has added a tie to many an outfit.

I recently took a class taught by the incredibly talented Amy Tan. After seeing her great creations and using her fun new scrapbooking products, I decided to make an Amy Tangerine inspired shirt of my own. At first I thought of girly shirts for me, seasonal tees, etc. and then it hit me -- a tie shirt for my boy! It's casual, it's FLAT and it's fun! As someone who does not sew, it was a bit intimidating at first. However, once I told my son my idea to make this, I had to persevere. I'm so glad I did, and, I actually enjoyed the process. Here's what I came up with:

and the process went something like this:

And Voila!
(Don't forget to take a photo of your cute subject wearing your cool tee-shirt! :)

If you'd like more detailed instructions on how to make a fun shirt like this of your own, just google "reverse applique tee shirts" and you'll be amazed at all the fabulous tutorials out there! Crafters and quilters have been using this ingenious concept for years, and I'm so happy to have learned how to do it myself. Try it!

Thanks for visiting The Scrappy Girl Next Door, and Happy Creating!