Embellish It!!

A few weeks ago a children's store in town had a huge tent sale. Mama and I bought WAY too many smocked dresses for Gray...but they're all different sizes, so this justifies our purchase. They had a rack of plain old boring tank tops for $2, so I picked up a few just to have around.

I found one of the shirts yesterday when I was picking up in Gray's room and decided it was time to add a little spice to this shirt.  I grabbed one of Hubby's old white undershirts and some scrap jersey and got to work! This project literally took me less than 20 minutes so don't be scared of it!

Before Picture of the Boring Tank Top

To get started, grab the shirt you want to embellish as well as other shirts or scraps that you will be using for your design. I will  be making a flower with a stem, so I grabbed some scrap green jersey and one of Hubby's old white shirts (with permission of course)

Cut a long strip out of your main flower fabric about 1-2" wide. I went the whole way around the shirt. You will be ruffling it, so it will be much shorter when you're done.

If you're making a stem, make sure you cut that fabric out too. Cut a long strip, not quite as wide as your flower fabric.

To Ruffle: Run a basting stitch down the long side of your fabric strip (I set my stitch length to 5, or the longest you have) Pull on the bobbin thread (the one that's on the bottom) to ruffle your fabric.

*Cheater Alert*  

 If you want a very even ruffle like the one below, as you're stitching, lightly hold your thread as it comes off of your spool to increase the tension. Your fabric will ruffle up nice and evenly! Who needs an expensive ruffling foot when you've got your fingers???

Pin your ruffle down to your shirt where you want it to go and slowly stitch it in place. You will wind it from the outside in forming a flower shape. This gets super thick under your machine, so be careful!

Ruffle the stem fabric the same way, and stitch it down to your shirt. Now throw it on your kiddo and enjoy your craftiness!!

Want to hear the corniest thing ever??? I wanted to put the flower on the left side of Gray's shirt so she could have a piece of her Daddy close to her heart when she wears it. I know...I make myself tear up just thinking about it.

This project isn't just for the little ones. Embellish your own tanks and tees with similar techniques!

I've been working on a super crazy project for a while now, and here's a little sneak peak of what it will be. Any guesses????