I started with a pink T-shirt I got from a friend. Even though the fit was better than your average free T-shirt, I don't have any ties to Rock Creek Sports Club, so I really didn't want to walk around wearing their logo. I decided I would replace the logo with something that makes me happy...a whale! (Does anyone else see the irony in replacing a gym logo with a gigantic animal synonymous with fat?)
I began by turning the shirt inside-out and freehanding a whale shape around the logo (fortunately I could still see the logo from the inside).
Then I cut out the shape.
For the inner layer (the actual meat of the reverse-appliqué), I decided to use my Drupalcon Denver shirt. Sorry, Drupal shirt, but I only used the sleeves, so maybe I'll still turn you into a tank top later!
I cut out a rough outline around the shape of the whale, and then things got messy.
I needed a good way to keep the fabric stable and in the correct shape while I was sewing, so my answer was to glue the appliqué to a piece of paper before attaching it to the shirt. My success with this was very limited.
The fabric came detached from the paper as I sewed, and wrinkled, so it took several tries before all of the appliqué was sewn on without gaps and lumps.
The fabric came detached from the paper as I sewed, and wrinkled, so it took several tries before all of the appliqué was sewn on without gaps and lumps.
To make the shirt look a little cuter, fit a little less tight around the shoulders, and make the raw edges of the appliqué fit in better, I cut out a wider neckline.
Then, still feeling the shirt needed a little something, I added a spray in the shape of a heart, using the same paper-backed sewing technique as last time. This was a total failure (when will I learn!?), and I ended up having to hand-sew the heart on because there were so many gaps in my machine-sewn seam.
But once I finally finished, it didn't look too bad! A friend even told me should would never have guessed it wasn't store-bought.
If I were to do this project again, I would sew the two pieces of fabric together first before doing any cutting, which I hope would prevent the numerous gaps and wrinkles I kept accidentally sewing into the seam.
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