Monday, October 24, 2011

Oh Christmas Tree!

So, I was browsing the internet for ideas to make a super cute
 Christmas shirt for my daughter for her upcoming program at school. 
I don't sew, so most everything I came across was OUT of the question! 
I did FINALLY triumph, however!
I found an idea for a no-sew Christmas tree...
(Well, minimal hand stitching anyway)
and it was made of RIBBON!
WOOO HOOO! 
I couldn't have planned it better if I had tried! LOL.
Check out this tree I made...




Wanna know what I did???
It is so super easy!!!!
I broke out a handy dandy needle and thread
 (because even I have one of those! LOL)
and I hand stitched and gathered the ribbon.
After I had about 9 strands done, I arranged them in the order I thought 
would look nice on her shirt.
Once I figured out my placement, I used Wonder Under and 
created my own Iron on applique!
For the Wunder Under, you simply read the directions and iron accordingly.





When I had all the ribbons ironed on and secure, I trimmed it all into the shape of the tree.
YES...I did trim off the ends of the ribbon...don't be scared to do that...the wonder under holds it all securely.  For any loose spots, I used liquid stitch...

Once I had the tree on and all the ribbon secured, I added my bow to the top.  
I did a quick hand stitch to secure the bow, and then topped it off with the liquid stitch for extra security.  
The whole thing took me a couple of hours, but probably could have been quicker if I knew how to sew and had a machine to do all my gathering! LOL.
It's all good though, because the finished product was cute enough to make my 6 year old jump up and down with glee.  She is excited to wear this for her program at school!

I used an assortment of reds and greens as my base tree including a few 
The bow on top is Shimmer Satin Gold.
The tree trunk is 1 1/2 inch brown grosgrain.
And of course wonder under and liquid stitch.

Now...I did find  few things out that I would have done differently had I have known, so I am going to share those things with you all....
1.  The grosgrain ribbon was MUCH easier to work with and made a prettier "gather"
2.  The satins looked more "crunched" than gathered...probably will not use satins again for this type of project.
3.  The wonder under only holds what ACTUALLY touches it.  Everything that was layered needed the liquid stitch.  I would try to have more of the ribbons touch the wonder under before ironing next time.
4.  Last but not least...I would remember to take the all important photo BEFORE I let her dribble her drink on the front of her shirt! LOL

All in all...it was a super easy and really FUN project!
I even let Skye pick out her ribbons, so that helped her feel like it was a joint effort in creating her shirt!

Thank you all for visiting us today!
Have a FANTABULOUS Week!!!



5 comments :

  1. This is real fun, gorgeous image Sandra H

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  2. Oh look at that adorable face! This turned out cute as can be. Thanks for the hints also, it is always nice to know.

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  3. What a fabulous idea Misty. The shirt is adorable and so is Skye!

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  4. How adorable is that shirt!!! Great idea thanks for sharing.

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