Pumpkin Tee {tutorial}

THANK YOU so much to all of you that have lifted my family in prayer these past few days. Your kind words and outpouring of support mean the world to me!

We are doing okay and getting better every day. Grace's bruises on her neck from the car seat straps are beginning to heal. She went back to school on Tuesday and she's running around jumping and playing like she loves to do. She's been talking about the accident, which I think is a good sign, to help her process and heal.

For me, I'm sore all over but it's very manageable. There is a bone in my right hand that is still very painful and swollen so we'll see about that in a few days, but I'm not letting it stop me from pursuing a few little creative distractions. Emotionally, everything is still very raw.

Hence why I decided to dive in head first into a little project last night. I needed to do something that required me to focus and not let my thoughts wander to the what ifs that have been plaguing my mind and heart these past few days.

Ready to try something fun for fall???
Let's do it!

I had all these materials on hand but if you don't, a quick trip to Hobby Lobby or your fabric store of choice will have you ready in no time! I just LOVE these fabrics & colors!
Just a little modern twist on the traditional fall/pumpkin colors.Here's what you'll need:
T-shirt
Fabrics for your applique design
Drawing or picture to use for your applique
Fusible web, like Steam-a-Seam
Embroidery floss & needle (you can also machine zig zag all the way around your applique if you prefer)
Iron

Step 1: The Design
I did mine a little backward because I drew and cut out the design on the fabric first, but probably the easier way to do it is to follow the directions on the Fusible Web package, which are:
- Draw or trace the design in reverse on the paper attached to the fusible web (you can check which side that is by gently peeling back a corner).
- Remove the paper backing from the side that does not have your drawing on it, place on the wrong side of your fabric and then cut out the design (you will be cutting the paper covered fusible web & fabric together)
- Repeat as needed for all the pieces of your design
(I forgot to take a picture of this step - Ooops! - but it's super easy so you don't need it :)

Step 2: Fuse the Applique
- Peel back the remaining paper from your cut out applique and place where desired on the t-shirt:

- Now's the time to make sure you have the applique where you want it! Reposition as needed before the next step.
- Work with one piece of the applique at a time to achieve desired result.
- Follow the directions on the fusible web, mine called for 10-15 seconds of heat, so I pressed directly on my applique for that time, lifting the iron and placing back down every 15 seconds to ensure I covered the entire applique section.- When layering one piece of the applique over another, be sure to go back and press over that overlapped section for the required time.

Your applique will now look like this...Cute, huh?And you're almost DONE!

Step 3: Hand Stitch or Zig Zag
You can use your sewing machine's zig zag stitch to go all the way around your applique and prevent fraying but because I'm still not too good/steady with the zig zag, I decided to hand finish mine using embroidery floss and the simplest little stitch.

- I just went all the way around my applique in a contrasting floss color just because I wanted to add a bit of orange :). You can also use the same color floss as your fabric to blend it in better if that's the look you're going for.
- It'll start looking like this:- And then this: And in no time (right at an hour to be exact), you'll have this! A super cute boutique-y tee without the $$$!

I modified a pack of pumpkin doilies and a notepad I got at Hobby Lobby to come up with the shape of the pumpkin for the applique. Just in case you want to use it, here's a better picture you can print and enlarge as needed: Want to know a secret??????????
This was my FIRST TIME using the embroidery floss!! So if I can do it and have it turn out cute, so can YOU!

There you have it...a fun little pumpkin tee for MY little pumpkin!
(Grace told me she was feeling shy this morning when I showed her the tee for the first time and took her picture but she said she liked it ;)
Whatcha think....Should I add an orange "G" monogram to the pumpkin or leave it as is??? Super easy & fun!
Next up...a candy corn tee (oh my, I ♥ this one!) and one for the boys...a friendly bat tee for Hudson!

Now...if only we'd get out of the 90°-100° so we could enjoy our LONG SLEEVE tees!
Have fun and let me know what you create!

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