DIY Applique Heartbreaker T-Shirts

I don’t like spending money on kids clothes in general, but even less so on themed clothing my kids will only wear once. But I love the cute little boutique holiday shirts I see little fashionistas in and I know my kids can look equally as cute (or way cuter) with a little effort and without spending more than a few bucks. I’ve created these DIY Applique Heartbreaker T-Shirts in the style of something that would be bought at a boutique for $20 bucks or more but I’m paying zippo to make it. Cheap mom for the win.

Cost: $0-$10 depending on what you have on hand

• Supplies:
  – A plain t-shirt in whatever color you have.
  – An iron.
  – Fabric Puffy Paint.
  – Iron on webbing.
  – Scrap fabric in a cute pattern.
  – Scrap fabric in white or cream.
  – A sewing machine, scissors, corresponding thread.
  
  

1. First, heat up your iron. I used the highest setting (Cotton) with no steam. While your iron is heating up, print out the templates I’ve provided below.
   
   Heartbreaker Template
2. Cut out a square of fabric that will be used for the heart and a rectangle of fabric that will be used for the banner.
   
3. Cut out iron on webbing of the same size.

1. Lay the fabric pieces on top of the iron on webbing pieces. The webbing should have the rough side toward the fabric. This tooth is what will make it adhere to the fabric pieces.
   
2. Iron the fabric onto the webbing pressing firmly until the webbing is completely adhered to the underside of the fabric. This will only take a minute or two.
3. Lay the fabric piece down, webbing side up, and fold it in half. Trace the half heart template onto the fabric with the broken part along the folded edge (or create your own heart shape).
   
   
4. With sharp scissors, cut out the heart fabric piece and cut it in half along the broken line.
   
   
   
5. Using the white fabric, webbing side up, trace the banner template onto the fabric. Using sharp scissors, cut out the banner shape.
   
   
6. Carefully peel the paper backing from the back of the fabric shapes. The webbing should be adhered to the fabric and will be noticeably smooth and shiny once the paper backing is off.
   
7. Place the fabric pieces carefully onto the t-shirt. Iron them in place with a hot iron and no steam for a few minutes until the pieces are secured in place.
   
   
8. Using a sewing machine with contrasting thread, carefully stitch down the applique to the t-shirt to secure it and make it stand out. I used a simple straight stitch with black thread. If you’d prefer, you can skip the sewing step and secure the edges of the fabric to the t-shirt using puffy paint as I did in the Trick-or-Treat bags tutorial.
   
   
9. Using a pencil and a light hand, write out the word “heartbreaker” inside of the banner. I didn’t do this on one of the shirts I made and I ended up being left of center which bummed me out. Don’t wing-it. Write it out first to get the placement right.
   
   
10. Use the puffy paint to trace over the word “heartbreaker”. TIP: shake the paint bottle before hand and squeeze onto a scrap piece before starting to prevent bubble explosion in the middle of your writing.
    
    

I really wanted to do something else with the words rather than use the puffy paint, but I was pressed for time and had that paint leftover from another project. If you’d like, you could use printable fabric to print out the word first and then create a banner out of that. It would probably look a little more polished.

Also, I need good ideas for my kid’s V’day gifts. What do you guys do? Do you have any cute V’day traditions you’d like to share? Talk to me! :)

Thanks for coming by and don’t forget to be creative! :)