Slim Fit Tee

 Today is the last tee shirt in Boy's Tee week! What a fun journey it has been! Jude has been loving all of his new tees, he even asked me today what tee we would make next.The flickr group has been growing with some incredible tees! I can't wait to include them in the round up tomorrow. I thought we would end with Jude's favorite tee. We came to a compromise for this one. You see I am not a huge fan of character shirts. Jude will ask for a Lightning McQueen, Buzz Lightyear, or Super Hero shirt from time to time, I tend to just kindly guide him to Pajamas, or Underwear, which is full of all his favorite characters. That way we both win. However as he has gotten older he has asks more often and when we were making tee shirts and deciding what we should put on him he was begging for Transformers. So I thought I would make one that was "cartoony" and a little more "modern" So we drew one on to the slim fit tee I made him.

 I like the "barely there" graphic that almost has a vintage feel. It kind of makes the slim fit tee. So let's make one shall we?

 One of my favorite things of making your own tee is that it can fit however you like. SO many store bought tees are square and boxy and rather wide for little boys. So I like to make them a slimmer fit. To do this I like to use super stretchy jersey knit (something that stretches in more than one direction) In this case I had this scoop neck top in my pile. However I wanted to use the neckline but not the scoop. (you know since it is for a boy) Doing this it fairly easy.

 Start by cutting the sleeves off and then cutting the shoulder seam.

 Then lay it so the front and back have the fold down the middle and the side seams match up. This allows you to easily cut a front and back piece.

 Then simply follow a tee shirt that fits fine and match the neckline up to the front and the back separately and cut around the tee. This is where you would make the tee a little slimmer and I usually add a little length as well.

 Then you should have a front and back as well as follow the sleeves and cut out two sleeves. Then start by sewing the shirt pieces right side together at the shoulder.

 Now is a good time to add a graphic or design to the front since it is easy when the top still lays flat. Jude helped me choose the transformer drawing he liked. I printed it out. However unlike the bicycle tee the brown was too dark to trace the picture. I am certainly not an artist and I didn't trust my "free hand skills". So I started by cutting out the transformer and then I laid it out on the shirt. I used a fabric marker to trace around the edge of the cutout.

 Then looking at the graphic and following the outline I began filling in the details. It's totally not perfect but it was pretty easy to add the little details.

 Then since I didn't take pictures of the last steps for some reason we will just use the pictures from the henley. Attach the sleeves into the sides arm openings of the shirt. Sew in place.

Then fold the top so the front and back are right sides together sew from the edge of the sleeve to the armpit and then turn and go down the sides. Then you can hem the bottom and the sleeves if you like. I left them raw for this top, it's jersey knit so it can be raw.

 That's all there is to it. A new slim fitting, super stretchy tee with a cool new graphic to please any boy.

 Using the old neckline left a nice finished neck.

So here's to happy boys with a closet full of tee shirts they love!
See you here tomorrow for the boys tee round up!
(the project runway recap is coming we will totally chat all things runway come monday! So go online and watch it this weekend if you haven't already!)

Bicycle Tee

 Today I am sharing the easiest tee you will ever make. Seriously. I love how easy it was that no tee is safe in my house. They will likely all get drawn on. Maybe even some of the hubs shirts since I think he secretly want this one :)

 I found a graphic that I liked online. If you have never done graphic searching, or never found what you were hoping for here is a few things I do to make it a little easier.
I use google and but in my keyword in the search like "bicycle" then I select black and white and for this type of project I narrow the search down by line drawing. It helps a lot to narrow down your options and find just what you are hoping for. As long as you are not selling the items you should be able to use any graphic for your own use. Then print your graphic out in the size you want on the shirt. Then for a light colored shirt such as this one I simply placed the graphic inside the shirt held it up to a window and traced it with a pen. (just a regular pen)

 Then I grabbed my trusty fabric marker. (my new true love) Trace your lines.

 Once the marker dries (which takes maybe 5 min) Iron the graphic to seal the color.

 Can you believe how simple it is? I know. It's also addicting. Tomorrow I will give you a few pointers on what to do if you have a dark shirt. (you know less see through for tracing)

Then you have a fun new graphic shirt for that boy in your life.

 We have had a slew of amazing thunderstorms lately which are my absolute favorite things, but it made for an indoor photo shoot with a boy who may be getting a little tired of photo shoots :) SO you will have to pardon the only "pose" I got from him with a few slight variations... "being cool", "being a boy" and "being goofy". In the end he may be glad his sister gets more clothing. :)

I am LOVING all the amazing tee shirts coming in flickr group! Don't forget to add your amazing creations we will be doing a round up on Friday!

Sketch Tee

 Jude is quite the little artist. He loves drawing monsters the most. Since one of the shirts I was going to make him was based on a monster sketch sewn on to the shirt, I thought what better than to let the little artist have at it and make his own doodle for the shirt.

 It's super easy to make and it's a great way for a proud 4 year old to show off his favorite art.

 Here is the quick rundown on how to do this. First Jude drew a picture of a monster. Then I scanned it into the computer (something I do for most of his art to keep digital copies) Then I opened it up and printed it out on photo transfer paper. Then simply cut out around the image.

 Then iron the image down on the fabric of your choice. I used jersey knit again, since it is my go to fabric.

 Once it is cool remove the paper backing and there you have your image. Cut around the image and you have a patch.

 Then I simply sewed around the edge. Quick and easy.

 A new shirt showcasing your kids fantastic drawings. (this can totally be done in color, Jude's drawing just happened to be in black and white.

 One more shirt down, even if Jude was a little tired of modeling the shirts... not even M&M's helped me out...
Don't forget to share any of your tee shirt creations in the flickr group!

Color Block Tee

 Day two of our boys tee week! A while back when I made the Hey Jude tee, my first go at the tee didn't go very well, sometimes things don't go as planned, so the shirt went in the "do-over" pile. I liked the contrast stitching and faded look the shirt had from the dye job. It was a perfect candidate for the color blocking tee. I love the idea of bold color blocking and breaking up the blocks to create some stripes was just an added touch. 

 To make one yourself start with a square. Any size you like. I put fusible interfacing ironed on to one side in order to help with the sewing later. 

 Then cut the square into strips. 

 Pin the strips to the shirt where you would like them to be. 

 I did two squares and I added the number 4 just for my little guy. Then sew them into place. I trimmed away the part that hung over on the sleeve.

 Then you're done. Simple enough right? It's a fun way to make a bold statement. 

 And a happy little boy, one more new shirt down. 3 more to go :)

Don't forget to add your boy's shirts to the Boys tee week flickr group!

Spider Tee

We have some exciting news! Of course it is a little without anticipation since you likely read the banner at the top of the post but we are excited none the less to announce that we are having a Boy's tee-shirt week! That's right, I have a little boy in my life who is starting preschool in a few short weeks, and so I reckon it is time to get the kids back to school and we thought we would kick things off with the boy essential. A rocking tee-shirt. So here's to a week full of boys tee shirts (let's pretend we are all toasting right now *clink*) We also started a flickr group a new one just for boys tee shirts. We know you have a million ideas out there as well and we want to see them so upload them to the flickr group and come Saturday we will be sharing our favorites! 

(if you have any trouble uploading a picture to the group email it to us we would love to see it) 

 I started the week with this little number from mini boden. I pinned it a while back. I loved the bold stripes but wasn't crazy about the spider. My son on the other hand loved the spider. He is a boy after all and loves all things creepy crawly. So I decided we would go ahead and make a spider. 

 So I give you the Spider Tee. Which is super easy and besides being a pretty basic applique, I have a fun technique to share with you. 

 I started by making a patch. I do this often for tons of projects, I shared more details on how this is done back on THIS POST. A quick run down I use jersey knit the most it's my favorite since it is soft and it doesn't fray, if you keep solid white in stock like I do (always pick some up from the remanent bin for 50% off) then you can dye it color it or do what you want with it and you will always have many options for "patch" making which is really just applique but I like to call them patches. Iron on fusible interfacing to the jersey knit and then cut out the shape you want. In this case a spider. You get a nice clean cut and you can get really detailed if you like. Then I taped Mr. spider down to some cardboard. I used the tape to define my lines. Then using felt tip fabric markers (found in the fabric dye and paint section of a craft store) I used black and simply colored in the white spaces. 

 Once it dries remove the tape and there you have it some nice bold stripes. Iron the patch to seal the color.

 Then I pinned the spider to the shirt (I used a pocket tee from old navy they were on sale for 4 dollars, I just removed and saved the pocket.) Then I used embroidery floss and do a back stitch all around the edge. I decided to do a contrast color for a little fun. 

 Then you are done. As a side note you can color the lines in solid unlike my "faded" looking lines I just liked the slightly worn look, but the markers will color solid.

 Jude asked me where his web was so I added a trail and web in the corner.

 There you have it tee shirt number one. 

 Bold stripes... Check! Creepy crawly bug... Check! 

 Happy boy... Check!

I just can't believe he will be off to preschool in a few weeks. He is growing up so fast, but at the same time I am so excited to have him start his new adventure. He is too especially with his new shirts :)