Applique Ballet Ribbon Shirt

I saw a shirt a while back in a store that was appliqued ballet shoes and actual ribbon. I thought it was so cute but.... I have 3 girls and I knew I could make all 3 for the price of one. Grant it, my "ballet shoe" is no where near perfect but I think it turned out nicely.

You will Need:
* Ribbon
* 2 Contrasting Fabrics
* Heat n Bond Lite Sewable
* Make your own shoe template or Download My FREE Template Here

Cut your ribbon as long as you would like your "laces" to be. Twist it loosely and pin it in place, overlapping the two top ends.

Iron on your sewable Heat n Bond Lite to the back of your two fabrics (leave on paper backing) and cut two of each of the template.

Peal off the paper backing on your pieces and iron them down like shown in the picture. Sew around each piece like shown.

Now, sew your ribbon how you have it pinned down. Make a bow, heat seal the ends with a lighter and sew it on top where the two ribbons meet.

That's it! You're all done! Easy Peasy, right?! Now if you happen to have an embroidery machine, you could do the applique on the embroidery machine and get the same affect. Just remember to place the ribbons underneath your fabric.

Happy Crafting!

Embroidering on Towels

So, I actually do a lot of towel projects. Either a hooded towel, towel sets as gifts, or for myself of course! hehe

For embroidering on towels, I hoop a piece of tear away stabilizer. Spray adhesive on my tear away and pin the towel to it.

Don't try to hoop your towel! It's just a big pain... way to thick!

Once you get it pinned, spray lightly a piece of water soluble stabilizer (WWS) and lay it on top. This will keep all the little pokeys from coming through while embroidering.

When I first started learning how to do embroidery, I thought that surely the WWS wouldn't make that big of a difference. Boy oh boy... I was wrong. Don't embroider towels without it! They look so much nicer!

How To Applique On Knit

*TIP - DO NOT UNHOOP YOUR PROJECT DURING EMBROIDERY! YOU CAN TAKE YOUR HOOP ON AND OFF YOUR MACHINE THOUGH.

Since knit is a stretchy material, you will need an iron on stabilizer for the back to hold it in place while embroidering. I use fusible cotton. Just turn your project inside out and iron on the fusible cotton where you want to embroider. I like to make mine large enough that I know it wont stretch. It's hard to see on my white shirt so I tried to do a little black outline for you.

Hoop tear away stabilizer. Don't look at my hoop! (embarrassing!) I need to clean it dearly!

Now, I like to spray a tad of spray on adhesive to hold everything where I need it until I can get it pinned. Just slide your hoop in your shirt where you want it and pin.

Now to stitch your design!
My design has two sections. If you have a program that can show you your stitch steps such as sew what pro or embrid, it makes things easier.
My first stitch is an outline stitch (showing me where to place my fabric)

Place your fabric over your outline.

Your next stitch will be a tack-down stitch (this sews right over your outline stitch, holding the material in place)

Now, cut around your outline with embroidery scissors. Try to cut close to your stitches, but don't cut your stitching or your shirt.

Now onto my second part. Since I have also have applique center.
First - Outline stitch

Second - Place my fabric down and do the tack-down stitch.

Cut around the outline.

Now, your final stitch. Mine is a satin stitch.

Once your design is done. Unpin and unhoop your project. Tear away your tear away stabilizer and heat up the fusible cotton on the back (peeling it as you heat it) and cut away the excess.

That's all! Not hard at all! The key is using the right stabilizer for the right materials.