Easy Skirt & Matching Appliqued T-shirt

Okay, I'll admit it.  I do not sew to save money.  I sew because I enjoy it, and I don't mind spending some money on my hobby.  However, I actually ended up with a thrifty project, so I had to share it.

I found some material on sale at Walmart for $1.00 a yard.  I love brown with the blue, so I had to have it.  I decided to make skirts for my girls using this Simple Skirt Tutorial.  Before finding this tutorial on a friend's blog, I had not made skirts before, but now I have become almost addicted to it.  (Thanks for the link, Kathy!)

I discovered some matching blue t-shirts at Walmart, and I decided to spruce them up a little bit.  First, I folded the t-shirt and ironed it to find the middle.  I did not intend on centering my pattern, but I wanted to have an idea of where it was on the shirt.  I aimed for somewhere in the lower left quadrant of the shirt.

I applied Wonder Under to the back side of the fabric and cut out three flowers.  I cut a little past the white of the flower so that the white would still show after I finished appliqueing.  I ironed the flowers onto the shirt so that I could make them into a bouquet.  I also starched and ironed the area where I would be appliqueing to help give the fabric some stiffness.  Then I placed fray check around the edges of the flowers.  This also helps to give a little extra stiffness and prevent future fraying. 


I placed tear-away stabilizer behind the flowers and pinned it in place.  (I found out that there is iron-on tear away stabilizer. I ordered some to try the next time I attempt this kind of project.)

 Then I appliqued around the flowers with a 2.5 width zig-zag stitch at a .2 stitch length.

I used a disppearing ink marker to mark where I wanted the stems to go.  Then I used a short straight stitch to add "stems" to the flowers and sewed a bow over the stems.  I placed fray check on the ends of the ribbon.
 

I was a little nervous about appliqueing on the knit fabric.  I did not want it to stretch and look bad.  I found that if I used the stabilizer underneath to manuever the fabric instead of pulling on the fabric itself, it worked pretty well.  I liked being able to add a little "something" to the t-shirt to pull the outfit together.

So, the skirts cost me about a dollar a piece.  The shirts were less than four dollars.  So, I was able to dress all three of my girls for about $15.  Maybe I'm a little thrifty after all!

I had fun this one, and that's something worth smiling about!  Hope you enjoy this project, too!