Friday, May 21, 2010

I'll just make it myself then


I was just "talking" to my blog friend, Heather, about a disease we both have. The I can make that myself for less disease. The kicker: we really can't make it ourselves, but we think we can. Either that, or we just don't have time to make it ourselves.
Anyway.
Sometimes, sometimes, we really can make it ourselves . . .

Take this adorable t-shirt, for example. A couple of months ago, when all of our cutesie Spring catalogs arrived, we found this among all the other sweetness that is the Mini Boden catalog. My girls love this tee. They each wanted one for our annual family reunion camp-out. Oh alright, so Kam didn't actually tell me she wanted one, but I know for a fact that Sierra and Makenna did. The problem: the price. This child's top is $28. If you do the math that comes to a total of $84 PLUS shipping for my three girls.

That's when I heard that voice: Hey, you can make that yourself.

I found some tees at Old Navy for less than $5 each. Even better, find a tee that you already own. Shirts with a small {or even large} stain work great to applique!

I didn't care for the pocket on Kam's tee, so I used a seam ripper to take it off.

I got out my fabric scraps, and liked the polka dots on this sage green oil cloth. {Bonus: oil cloth wipes down easily. Score for my little messy Bessie!} A little bit of wool felt came in handy for the hitch and tire/wheel.

I used Steam-A-Seam 2 Fusible webbing to apply the applique. I love this stuff!



Remove backing . . .



adhere to "camper" . . .



Add more details ~ a window, a door . . .



Find the perfect spot on your tee . . .



Permanently adhere with an iron. I turned my tee inside out and used a high heat setting. Press down for 20 seconds or so all over the applique to ensure a good "stick".

And voila! Your very own tee {for like, 1/6th the cost!}

Now I just gotta find the time to make the other two :)

~~~~~~~~~~

Join us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap up party!

Check out lots of crafty goodness at Jen's!



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19 comments :

J.J. said...

how cute is that! I love your fabric :) and your nails!!!

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

LOL - I have that disease too! I can't tell you how much I love this shirt!! I want one for ME! So cute and polka dots too!

Thanks for linking up Liz - you are so sweet!

XOXO
Jen

KJ@letsgoflyakite said...

This is absolutely adorable Love it!

Kelli said...

That is just adorable...and so are the flowers on your thumbs!

Foursons said...

So cute Liz! And now I need to go back and check the flowers on your thumbs?

Heather said...

OH. MY. WORD! Why don't we live closer?!!! That's just not fair. My girls chose that exact same shirt out of the mini boden catalog. I NEVER thought of doing THAT one myself. But you made it look so easy!! Yours turned out even cuter than the expensive one. You should make them and sell them. :) Of course I probably couldn't buy one now that you have shown me how to do it :D
Isn't it amazing how quickly things add up when you have to buy 3?
Another question...where do you find oilcloth? I want to make a reversible changing pad that actually fits Baileys body and can't find affordable oilcloth (or laminated cotton).

Kelli W said...

It turned out SUPER cute! I have the same problem. I always think I can make stuff, so I go buy the supplies and then never have enough time to get it all done! Thanks for sharing your craftiness with us. I may have to check out that iron on stuff for when I don't feel like getting out the sewing machine!

Stephanie Cameron said...

Way super cute!!

Jenny said...

I love Mini Boden clothes! I once spent the $36 on a long sleeve applique shirt for Abby and it fell apart at the seams on the second wash! I never bought from them again.

I love your look-alike!

He & Me + 3 said...

That turned out so cute. OMWord. I so wish I were more creative. Great job and just as cute as the mini boden.

Valerie said...

Well, hello there! Thanks so much for dropping by last Friday and commenting on my letters of intent post! After I posted, I turned off my computer for the weekend since we had so many birthday and graduation parties. Thus, I didn't make it by sooner to say hello!

Any hoo...love, this tutorial on the tee shirt! Aren't you quite the crafty one!!! I also read with amusement your letters of intent! I hear you on the rain...it finally stopped this weekend, but only after doing some serious damage (tornadoes, flooding) over the past couple weeks. Sorry to hear about he teeth grinding...ugh...from someone who's been there and done that! LOL

It's always nice to meet a fellow fire fighter's wife...we sacrifice so much, but then so do our husbands!

Take care! Your' newest follower,

val

Claremont First Ward said...

SO impressive. AND cute. LOVE what you did for so much less money!

Connie said...

I cut a picture out the boden catalog of something I want to make for myself.

You did a great job on this! I love it!

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Aww, this is so, SO cute! I would love to link to this if you didn't mind.

Anonymous said...

Very cute. Would be perfect for our kids since we go camping! :) Thanks for sharing.

Polly @ Pieces by Polly said...

This is super cute!

Andrea said...

I love copying Mini Boden stuff. It is all so cute! Love this shirt. Just adorable.

I have a weekly Thursday blog party especially for people to share things they've made to be worn. Stop by if you'd like! It is called Make It Wear It and I host it at TheTrainToCrazy.com

mondbresal said...

Very cute for fans.

Unknown said...

hello , i so love this , would it be possible to get the template pieces for the camper from you ?? i have been trying to make one and it is a fail and i so love this and want to make 5 t shirts for our family for a family camping rip next week , i thank you so very much for sharing it and sharing your incredable talent , my personal email is overmypinkrainbow at yahoo dot com thanks so much and i hope to hear from you , hugs from georgia in ohio

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