Tutorial Tuesday Bat T-shirt

October is here and Halloween is fast approaching. My girls needed a new shirt for Halloween and I came across a couple of purple t-shirts at the thrift store last week and I knew they would make great Halloween t-shirts. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to turn them into before settling on something rather batty.

Bat T-Shirt

You Need:
A t-shirt
Steam a Seam
Fabric for Bats
Fabric for Moon
Bat Template
Black Embroidery Thread


Ok the first thing you need to do is find a nice bat template. I just googled black bat and pulled one a like off of the images that came up. I payed around with the size before printing out the bat. It ended up being about 4 inches across. When you have a template you like you need to cut it out and trace the image onto the back of your chosen fabric. I decided to make 2 bats for my shirt.

I wanted to do something a little more colorful for the bats so I used an old pair of my pants. (Please do not judge me for owning such ugly pants!)


Next you want to cut out your moon. I used some yellow fabric and a bottle to make the moon.


Now you are going to put you fabric pieces on your steam a seam page. I made two shirts that is why there is double the amount. From here you need to follow the directions on the Steam a Seam package. I did run the iron over the page (with the protective top paper in place) for a minute so the fabric would stick a bit better then I cut out the pieces.


Line up your bats and your moon on the shirt and iron them in place. Now you can stop here or add a little more detail by going around the shirt with the black embroidery thread. I made one shirt each way and I really am torn by which one I like better. The thread adds detail but it took forever to do and I am not sure it was worth the extra time.

Since I made 2 shirts have both the girls model for me.

My oldest's shirt has the embroidery thread detail.

My youngest (and most reluctant model) is wearing the shirt without the detail.

Hope this tutorial works for you and doesn't drive you too batty!
(Sorry I couldn't resist)

Old Shirt to New Dress

I have been rather obsessed lately with making old things into something new. My latest project was making an old shirt of mine into a new dress for Evie. I have owned this shirt for years and while I wear it occasionally it really isn't the most flattering top on me. I love the fabric and I didn't want to just get rid of it. After looking it over I realized that it would make the perfect sundress for Evie. The fabulous smocking meant I didn't even have to take it in.

Sorry about the pictures they were a bit of an after thought. Oh and the straps are even they just look funny in the picture!

Here is everything I did to make this adorable dress.
Step 1. I removed the bottom of the shirt just above the smocking. I decided I liked the raw edge look and left a little at the top.
Step 2. I removed the smocked neckline at the top of the shirt. I knew it was make perfect straps for the dress. I then cut it in half.
Step 3. I wrestled with Evie to get the dress on her so I could do a quick measurement on the straps. She was not happy and it didn't work as well as I would have liked. I pretty much had to guess on them.
Step 4. I sewed on the straps by hand. I still don't have a machine but I hope to get one soon. I stabbed myself a whole bunch so I am pretty happy I didn't get any blood on the shirt!
Step 5. After looking at the dress I realized that something was missing. It needed a flower and bow. So I used the leftover fabric from the top of shirt to make the flower and the ties from the top to make a cute little bow.

The dressed turned out super cute and I love it. Evie refused to put it back on so I could take a picture. She was busy in her tent and wasn't about to come out!