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Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Trim The Tee Craft Along Week 1:The Gingerbread Man Shirt



Today is the first installment of a new Sew Can Do Craft Along for the month of December: Trim The Tee.  Each week I'll have a new how-to for holiday decorating a plain t-shirt, using basic supplies & skills.
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Today I'm sharing how to make a whimsical Gingerbread Man shirt, complete with "icing" details, "candy" buttons and a "frosting" scarf.  The wearer's face is what makes it come to life!  And by using felt there's no need to worry about hems or edges or using stabilizer.  It's fast & fun, so grab the Trim The Tee button off the sidebar and let's get started!

You'll Need:
- A blank tee
- 12in x 12in piece of tan felt for adults & kids (use smaller for baby-sized)
- Scraps of felt for scarf
- 1/3-1/2yd of rick rack
- 3 buttons
- Notions (hand sewing needle, thread, scissors, paper, pencil)

First draw or trace a gingerbread body (including neck) on paper.  I freehanded mine and then folded it in half so it would be nice and symmetrical.  Then I pinned it onto the folded felt & cut.
Open up and place on tee to see how the neck fits with the shirt's neckline.  Trim a bit more of a curve if necessary:
Pin the felt body to the front of the shirt.  It's best to use lots of pins so the felt won't shift when sewing onto the knit fabric.  Sew slowly to keep from accidentally sewing any folds of the shirt together.
Stitch the body onto the shirt 1/8 inch from the raw edge.  Cut the rick rack for the arms and waist.  Either fold the cut edges under or fuse them by running a lighter underneath to prevent fraying.  Pin and stitch along the center of the rick rack.
Cut 3 pieces from green felt using the neck of the body as a guide, but making them just slightly larger so they'll fully cover the body's neck when sewn on:
Overlap two pieces of the felt vertically and place the third on top horizontally and place over the neck area of the body like this:
Stitch all the scarf pieces in place, close to the raw edges as before, but leave about an inch of space at the bottom of the long ends and cut into strips to make the fringe:
 Hand stitch the buttons in place and someone's ready to be a little gingerbread man -

Stop by next Tuesday for the next Trim The Tee Craft Along with a snowflake theme!

I'm also sharing this with my FAVE LINK PARTIES.
Click HERE to check them out!

27 comments:

  1. Love it! I think I am going to try one! :)

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    1. You should - it's so fast to do. I already had all the supplies sitting around the house - you probably do too!

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  2. That's so fun. What a fantastic idea!

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  3. This is adorable! Such a cute idea for a holiday photo!

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    1. Thanks Lisa - next year I've got to get going early so I can use them for our card.

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  4. This is absolutely adorable, and a great design! You have a very handsome model for the shirt too!

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    1. Thanks so much Anita. I'm very proud of both:) He will be thrilled to hear that!

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  5. Love this! I am inspired now to make my own holiday sweater rather than hunting and pecking for one in the stores. great project! I'm stopping by from the link party

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    1. Exactly! I kept searching for cute shirts and was coming up empty, so the Trim The Tee series was born! Stop by every Wednesday this month for a new shirt idea!

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  6. Gingerbread People remind me of Student Teaching in Kindergarten. This is an adorable tutorial. Thanks for sharing! Katharine

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  7. That's just the cutest shirt!! LOVE THAT!! I'm so glad you shared it with us this week for Pearls and Lace Thursday!
    Blessings,
    Doni

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  8. Awwww that's just too adorable!!! What a cute idea!

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  9. This is adorable! I want to make some for my twin nephews. Thanks for the great tutorial!

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  10. So cute! What a great idea! Thanks for sharing- I found you over at The Bowdabra Blog Saturday Showcase.
    Valerie-www.occasionallycrafty.blogspot.com

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  11. Cute idea, and great tutorial.
    Thanks for sharing at the Adorned From Above Blog Hop.
    Adorned From Above,
    Debi.
    The Busy Bee's,
    Myrna and Joye.

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  12. That has to be one of the cutest christmas shirts I've seen!

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  13. Hi Cheryl,
    This is such a cute tshirt. My nephew would love this. Thanks so much for sharing at Wednesday's Adorned From Above Blog Hop. This weeks party is live. I hope to see you there.
    http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/12/7-recipes-and-wednesdays-adorned-from.html
    Debi @ Adorned From Above
    Joye and Myrna @ The Busy Bee's
    Linda @ With A Blast

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  14. Thanks for sharing your project in last week's Crafty Showcase. We love how you inspire others on the internet! Stop back over and share more of your talent in the new Bowdabra Crafty Showcase starting Friday night midnight! http://www.bowdabrablog.com
    Susie @Bowdabra

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  15. Replies
    1. Thanks Karah - it definitely makes it easy to get the face "just right";)

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  16. This is too cute! Thank you so much for linking up to our Holiday Happenings party. Hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

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    1. Thanks Jenny - I hope you have a fantastic holiday too:)

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