Birthday Banner Redo

I made this birthday banner last year from a tutorial over at polkadotchair.com . I cut the triangles with pinking sheers out of my fabrics then drew out lettering and used wonder under to iron them on. Then I sewed it to this big ric rac that I had in my stash. It was a pretty quick project and I think it turned out great. I put it away with the birthday decorations. I got it back out and thought, oh my goodness, this needs improved upon. I do not like to redo projects that I have made, and normally do not. I decided to make an exception to this project. I am on an applique kick right now. I decided to use an applique stitch and stitch around the letters. It took a bit of time but it was worth it.

You can see from this image that the letters just did not stand out and couldn't be read from very far away.

See the difference the black stitching makes.

I am so happy with the end product. I think the black around the lettering just makes it pop. It will be used for many birthdays to come. ( I should have ironed it before I took the picture).

How to Machine Applique

Applique T-shirt So you want to learn how to applique. It is so easy. You can put any image on anything, from towels to t-shirts. I will be showing you how to applique a t-shirt. I made my own pattern up. But any line drawn image will work. I made this pattern up to match these cute capri's I found last summer on clearance at Gymboree.

These are the supplies you will need:

T-shirt

fabric scraps

pattern

Wonder-Under

basic sewing supplies

Fabric Stabilizer - There are different types of fabric stabilizers on the market, two I have used are washable stabilizer and a tear away stabilizer. I like the tear away stabilizer the best for knits. It gives a nice stiff sewing surface and keeps the fabric from moving.
Lets get started.

Iron a piece of fabric that will fit your pattern to the wonder-under. Trace your pattern pieces on to the paper side of the wonder under. Cut out your pattern. Peel off the paper side of the wonder-under. Position your pattern onto your t-shirt how you want it to look. (Make sure you are happy with it, once you iron it down, there is no changing it). The green piece went down first, then the pink triangles were layed down last. With a hot iron, iron down your pattern.

Cut a piece of fabric stabilizer big enough to fit your pattern and give about a 1/2 inch over. Put stabilizer underneath the pattern ( to the inside of the t-shirt). Pin in place at the sides.

Getting your machine ready:

Applique needs a satin stitch to be really pretty. You want a nice close zig-zag stitch, but longer your button hole stitch. I set my machine to the button hole setting but lengthen the stich to about a 5. You should experiment on a scrap of fabric before starting on your applique. Once you get a stitch you like,you are ready to begin.

For this project I chose thread that matched my fabric, but you can use any color you choose.

I start sewing with the top layer. I start at a spot easy to meet up with again. For the triangles, I started with the point and met back around at the point and slightly over lapped my stitching.

AFter I stitched around the triangles, I changed thread to green and stitched around the rind part.

When you are done sewing, clip threads close to stitching and carefully tear away fabric stabilizer. Turn t-shirt right side out. Go find your kid, put it on them and take a picture.

I loved the way it turned out and will be showing some more applique projects in the upcoming weeks. Happy Sewing.