Boys & Bugs Shirt

This shirt is a fun, easy project to make for any bug loving child.  For this project, I purchased a solid ready made T-shirt for $1.50.  I found this bargain on sale at my local Walmart. I hoped that with my arm still not completely operable due to breaking it in January, that this would be a project I was anxious to try.  

The first step is to decorating a shirt is to download the free bug pattern I designed here.

2.  Gather together the following supplies:

1.  Knit fabric scraps 
2.  Washable fabric marker
3.  Fabric spray glue 
4.  Fabric scissors
5.  Thread
6.  A solid T-shirt

3.  Now using the downloaded pattern, cut out the basic bug shapes from your scraps of knit fabric.

4. Use the fabric spray adhesive to temporarily adhere the fabric to the T-shirt by spraying the wrong side of the fabric and then putting the shapes, right side up onto the T-shirt.

5.   With the temporary fabric marker, draw on the details like the bug's legs and eyes onto the fabric.  These will be the lines that you use as guides for the machine embroidery.

6.  For the legs, use black thread.  I used a technique called scribble stitching to finish adhere the bugs onto the T-shirt.  To learn the basics on how to scribble stitch, go to Threading My Way, here.  As you can see by the close-up photo below, I only used the detail lines as a general guideline.  Plus I finally got my brace off my arm and sadly, my left arm still isn't working right so this is as close to the lines as I could get.  

Enjoy making this simple bug shirt!   xoxo Grandma

Linked to:  Threading My Way, Project Run & Play, Totally Tutorials