The Everything Sewing Book by Sandra Detrixhe

Author:Sandra Detrixhe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebup, ebook
Publisher: F+W Media
Published: 2004-03-26T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Fun-to-Make Gifts

As you become more confident about your sewing skills, it’s natural to look for ways to share them. Handmade gifts are always appreciated, and there’s no danger that someone else will give another just like it. If you’re still a little hesitant, you might start out by adding a personal touch to a store-bought item.

Trimming Infants’ T-shirts

Infants’ plain white T-shirts are inexpensive and easy to dress up. Mothers like the kind with the overlapping shoulders because they are easier to pull over a little one’s head.

Begin by decorating the neck and shoulders of the little T-shirts. Narrow satin ribbon or narrow double-fold bias tape can be sewn around the edge, just below the hem. Zigzag stitches will help you fit your trim to the curves. Consider a very narrow ruffle for a girl’s shirt. Put the ruffle pointing down instead of up, and be sure it’s a soft cotton — such as eyelet — rather than a scratchy lace.

Turn the ends of your trim under, zigzag across them, or cover the ends with tiny bows.

Decorate the front of the shirts with a small appliqué. Craft stores offer a wide variety of embroidered or painted appliqué you can choose from. Two smaller, coordinating appliqués might be cute on the shoulders. Or make your own appliqué. A simple shape, like a heart or a star, looks great on such a tiny shirt. If you have trouble zigzag stitching on the stretchy T-shirt, try turned appliqué instead.

Easy Turned Appliqué

Turned appliqué only works with single fabric appliqué. Besides being good for decorating T-shirts, this method is handy if you want to add an appliqué to something that you can’t manipulate under the sewing machine needle to zigzag, such as a ready-made tote bag or a jacket sleeve or pocket.

Draw your shape on the wrong side of your fabric. Place this piece on top of a second piece of fabric. This can be more of the same fabric, a neutral color, or something that matches what you plan to sew the appliqué to. Straight-stitch around the shape, leaving a small gap along the straightest edge available.

Cut around the shape, leaving ¼" allowance. Clip the curves, turn, and press. You can blind-stitch the gap or simply topstitch close to the edge. You might be able to follow your topstitching and machine-stitch the appliqué to the T-shirt. Or you can blind-stitch the shape in place.

One possibility is to make three small hearts (or stars or other shapes) out of a striped or checked material. For interest, cut two on the grain and, for the center shape, cut one on the bias so the stripes run on the diagonal. Another idea is to use the chintz appliqué you learned in Chapter 7 and cut a small motif from a juvenile print, leaving a seam allowance. Back and turn it as described above, and sew on the shirt.

Another idea is to use the same method to make a pocket pal for a toddler. Use a teddy bear,

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