Raw-Edge Applique T-shirts

Have you noticed how ‘in’ raw-edge applique is on ready-to-wear t-shirts these days? It’s soooo in!  My sister has this shirt and each time I see her wear it I think, “gotta make me some similar t-shirts”. This is a raw edge applique of butterflies. I have a raw edge applique in the works of butterflies, but it might be another week before that’s done.

Here’s a version I did on an old white Shade shirt. It’s my scribbled daisy applique. Hmmm….maybe I’ll actually wear such a boring shirt now…..cause it ain’t borin’ no more! I can’t wait until I wash it and the edges get all frayed. Uber cool.

Tip for appliquéing more than one appliqué at a time in the hoop: If you can “fast forward” and jump around the thread colors, then stitch  like items together, that way you aren’t removing the hoop to cut away the fabric too many times. In the above shirt I jumped around on my screen “grouping” similar stitches for the green daisies together. That way I only removed the hoop from the machine twice to cut away excess fabric—once for the green daisies, and once for the turquoise. On my screen it’s fairly easy to see how I can jump around between color changes but even on my old ‘less fancy’ embroidery machine I could jump around.

Here’s a version I did with two of my Spirograph designs. Remember spirograph for those us who were kids in the 1980s? So completely loved spirograph!

Here’s a shirt I did for my daughter with my scribbled rose design. Uber cute.

Thankfully summer is coming and I see many more t-shirts in the making.