Sunday, February 17, 2013

You are my sunshine top


Here is my tutorial for my "You are my sunshine shirt" I will be uploading to the Sew in tune flickr group. It isn't really a full tutorial, I kind of just explain what tutorials I used to make it. But If you are an intermediate sewer you should be able to follow along....So here is how I made it:




What you need
Thin knit fabric, about a yard (it should be thin because you are going to have the shirt 2 layers)
Yellow knit fabric for the sun (scraps is enough)

Pattern
You can use any shirt pattern for this top, just leave out the sleeves. 
Download my sun applique pattern here.

Cutting
Cut two back pieces and two front pieces from your knit fabric. You want two so that your applique is sandwiched between them. That is why I used thin knit material.

Applique
After following this tutorial for reversed applique with neat edges I suggest leaving out the neat edges and just doing regular reversed applique like from this tutorial. Don't get me wrong, the tutorial is great, but she specifically says: "If you have multiple shapes, it's best to leave at least 1/2 inch between them". Well, my sun rays are much closer together, and so it was really tricky to do the neat edges. Since you are working with knit, and knit does not fray, it is really not a problem to make raw edges. But you choose...

Anyway, after your make you applique topstitch around the entire design, using yellow thread. 





Embroidery
Write out your sentence with a removable pen. Take yoru yellow embroidery thread and embroider the sentence, using any embroidery stitch you like. I made a broad chain stitch using this tutorial.

Sewing
Now that your embellishment is finished, sew together back and front pieces at shoulder seams. You will now have two pieces that look like this.

Place them on top of each other, right sides together and sew around the neck, using a stretch stitch.

Now flip the shirt to the right side and topstitch the neckline, again using a stretch stitch.

Pin your arm hole together, folding under each side about 1/8 inch and sew together.

Sew together side seams.

For the hem, I decided on a lettuce edge hem, in order to make a little ruffle and have to go with the Ruffle leg shorts to make a very ruffly outfit. You can find the tutorial here, I love this technique, and you don't need a serger for it!

And that's it! Make this for a little sunshine in your life!







21 comments:

  1. Your embroidery turned out great.I think I'm going to tackle the lettuce edge hem this summer, thanks for the link!

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  2. Mira, I love your project, is original. Thanks for sharing the links to the tutorials. I love the contrast of gray and yellow. This summer I saw in a boutique several t-shirt, with the same style that you have done, loved. Now you've given me the inspiration and taught me how to create one for myself and see how it looks. Thank you.
    Marisa from
    http://passionetcouture.blogspot.ca/

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  3. My mom sings this to my daughter all the time - since she was born, and now she's 12 years old. This would be a great project for my mom to make for her. Thanks so much! Too cute!

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  4. This is wonderful! My favorite song too! I will have to make this for myself! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  5. How fun and cheerful!
    Love it!

    hugs x
    Crystelle
    http://www.crystelleboutique.com/

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  6. This is great! So optimistic and wonderful! And my favorite combination of grey and yellow, thanks!

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  7. Oh Mira, This is beautiful. So bright and cheery!

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  8. Very cute. Perfect for Spring. I would love to have you share this at my link party.
    http://www.bloominghomestead.com/2013/02/crafty-tuesday-link-party-21913.html
    -Marie

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  9. Very cute! I'm pinning it for inspiration. Nice work and thanks for sharing!

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  10. Wow, so impressive and I admire your creativity.
    http://millicentblog.weebly.com/adidas--the-name-that-spells-quality.html

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  11. Nice Job Mira, I love the idea and the result.
    I'm following you on GFC, I would be very pleased if you'd like to visit my little and new sewing blog and, if you like what you see, follow me back.
    Thanks a lot,
    MammaNene from

    SergerPepper.blogspot.it

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  12. Featuring this on Saturday! Thanks so much for linking up - have a great week!
    xo

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  13. I have never done reverse applique or lettuce edging. I really should try them because they make this top look fantastic.

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  14. This is soooo cute! I love how you did the sun! I'm featuring you tonight at MMM

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  15. This is so cute, and bright! Love it!

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  16. This is SOOOOO cute. I really love it.

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