Celebrating Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!
I had a little time to sew this weekend. Knowing that the week started with Earth Day, I decided to sew for the boys. Yup, another t-shirt refashion.
The first shirt was a youth XL Earth Day shirt from a few years ago. This shirt was donated by their older brother.

I really wanted to keep the design, so that meant I wasn’t able to keep the original hem. I added 3/4 inch to the bottom to account for this.

The second shirt was an adult medium I picked up from Goodwill (in our favorite color). This shirt has been sitting in my refashion bin for quite some time.

*I had already picked the colors before pictures. (Sometimes I cannot wait to start a project.)

I used t-shirt scraps left over from a different refashion for the earth applique. (See, I am not crazy for saving those t-shirt bits.)
This was my first time freezer paper stenciling. This was so easy, and produces a very professional result. (Hubby thought I cut the earth from a screen printed t-shirt.) I searched ‘earth coloring printable’ for the image. If you are new to freezer paper stenciling, this is a good tutorial.
After the paint was dry, I ironed Heat’n’Bond to the applique. Then ironed the earth to the middle shirt front. Next I sewed around the circumference with a straight stitch.
I used Melissa’s pattern again.
A Few Tips:

• After making a few shirts for the boys, I prefer picking off the collar vs. cutting it off. I find that having that little extra fabric makes for a more finished looking product. It truly doesn’t take very long to take off either.
• It took a little fudging with the Youth shirt. It was doable, but took a little finagling. So try to use bigger shirts.
• I used that newly discovered lever again. I turned the speed down a little to sew the applique. In the past my machine used to eat my t-shirts when I was trying to applique. Not anymore!
• Save your t-shirt scraps. You can see from the earth shirt, dinosaur shirts, and long-sleeved refashion that scraps come in handy.
• Measure the ribbing (neckband) to be sure it will fit over heads. I made the mistake of skipping this step with the baseball shirts, had to seam rip it out, and scrounge around for more red ribbing.

How are you celebrating Earth Day?

Participating in these parties: