How to make a tie shirt

After having my second little boy I knew that I'd have to get creative if I wanted to make things for my little boys!  I can't remember where I first heard of or saw tie shirts, but I love them.  They are just nerdy enough to be perfectly adorable!

I searched through blogs and etsy observing how everyone else made their shirts, and finally settled on the way that I love :)  I will share with you here how I make my tie shirts, and hopefully you'll love them too.

Materials needed:

-plain t-shirt or onesie
-heat n bond or some kind of fusible web for applique
-fabric for tie (scraps)
-sewing machine

Step 1:
Trace the tie pattern onto the paper side of your heat n bond.  I separate the two pieces, the knot and the tie.  I like the pattern of the knot to be in a different direction than the pattern of the tie.  I have included my templates for you here, in sizes 3-6 months and 2T.  Using a ruler you can make these shorter/longer and wider/thinner.  My suggestion is that the tie is within 3-4 inches of the bottom of the shirt.  I find if the tie ends too high on the shirt it's just nerdy enough to be down right nerdy.  Roughly cut around the pieces and iron to the wrong side of your fabric, like so:

Step 2:

Following the directions of your heat n bond, cut exactly around the tie, peel of the paper and iron to the shirt. It's now ready for you to sew around. Sew.

Step 3:

Stand back and admire! They're that easy. I think the trickiest part is picking the right fabric stripes and plaids work amazingly and the right size and length for the ties.

Step 4:
Adorn cute cousin boys with matching tie shirts.  Perfection!



As always, we will be linking these cutie pies to some linky parties, so check them out.  Seriously you can find some amazing talent at these parties!

Happy Birthday Banner...a really cute one!

My dear older sister Amy made me this for Christmas. I kinda felt like a jerk because my gift to her was not near as cute or time consuming. I LOVE this banner. I love these fabrics, I am still mad at myself for not buying more when the line was out. Maybe I can still find it.

She did triangles front and back, and cut the edges with pinking shears. Then she stitched them together. She did the cute letters on the computer, then cut them out of fabric in the pretty chocolate brown.

I already got to use it once already for my husband. I don't think he cared about the pink. And the girls were SO excited to hang it up.

Thanks Amy. I just love my cute Happy Birthday banner. Now I would like one for Valentine's, St. Patricks day, Mothers day, fathers day, fourth of july, Halloween, thanksgiving, and Christmas if that is not too much to ask...

Again, we will be linking again with

PS Linking with Twice Remembered, Made by you Mondays   The girl creative, A soft place to land,  It's so Very Cheri, Reinvented, We are THAT family, Blue Cricket Design, Finding Fabulous , AmyLouWho, floral showers, and

Christmas Quilt

As Heather mentioned before, we are a threesome of sisters and our oldest sister Amy made this rag quilt for me! It was a couple years ago I asked her to make me one for Christmas, I wasn't a quilter at the time and she made and sold these quilts on Ebay, isn't it fab?? At the time the colors matched all my decorating, but I've sinced gotten rid of red and was so sad not to have this on display, only for snuggling. And then my grand idea, it's my Christmas quilt, and I love it!

One of the reasons I think she did such a great job is that she mixes fabrics and textures. Adding minky was a great touch. Thanks sister, I'll love it forever!

And, I think a rag quilt was one of my very first quilts I ever made for a friends baby. I highly recommend it as a starter quilt, they look great, they are easy to put together and it's hard to mess up :) Happy quilting!

We're partying at the Inspired Room, A Soft Place to Land and Between Naps on the Porch.