Triceratops with Red Horns Shirt

Another prehistoric animal shirt, yes. Are you tired of them yet?? No? Good!

After I did the Allosaurus Shirt, my son said he wanted his next shirt to have a "yellow triceratops with red horns." (Finally got around to that, and posting about it!) Compared to the former, this one was easy peasy. Done in under an hour. I think I was on a caffeine kick because I never do anything that fast, but this time, I took a big shortcut.

I used an old t-shirt of mine, which meant the collar and cuffs were already done. I placed Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee pattern on my shirt and cut out the body pieces (which tailored it to my son's chest size, and basically just closed up the neck hole a bit); then I placed the arm pattern piece on the pre-existing sleeves and cut those out too. (My son likes longer sleeves, so I added a few inches.)

For the dino itself, I again used a silhouette I found on Google images ("Triceratops silhouette"). The yellow fabric is knit from an old t-shirt. I'd never used knit for an applique before, and I have to say, it doesn't look as crisp or professional as cotton (the yellow on the Pteranodon is cotton, as is the Allosaurus). But for this shirt, the upcycled knit worked just fine. Kind of lends itself to the whole upcycled theme with using my old shirt. Instead of using new knit (as with the previously posted shirts), this broken-in look of old knit on old knit works. (Follow that?)

Oh, and the eye is just a glued-on googley eye I found in my stash. I used permanent fabric glue to adhere it and it has lasted through at least two washings so far. (Sweet!)

In this picture, I told my son, "Put your hands in your pockets," not realizing the only pockets were halfway down his legs. hahaha

I used the gray thread that was already on my machine to outline the triceratops because I was too lazy to change it to yellow. I wanted this thing done fast, man. And it was. My kid loves it. He's worn it way more than the Pteranodon -- probably because the knit is so soft with that lived-in feel to it. (And I didn't make any cutting mistakes.)

Fast shirt + dinosaur = happy boy and happy mom.

Hooray!

PS: My sewing machine is fixed now, but I've hardly used it due to a sore knee that needs to be elevated. I do have a few embroidery projects to share, but haven't gotten pictures yet (again blaming the knee). This post has been waiting in the wings for a while, so thought I could get that up. And if you're wondering, I do have an ice pack on my knee at this very moment...) Thanks for reading!
PPS: I'm linking up with these parties!

The Bear Paw Shirt

Woo-hoo! I love this shirt! And so does my son. It's probably my favorite version of all the flashback skinny tee's I've made so far. With several versions under my belt (for both my kids), I've figured out what fit I like best on my son. So I made a few adjustments to get what I wanted for this shirt (more on than below). But this shirt didn't come without a price: $96. Yep. I made an expensive mistake and my machine is now in the shop. (More on that too.)

At first, my kid was a little unsure. I mean, he was used to dinosaurs. Like this and this (and one other I haven't posted yet).

But then he got pretty happy with the shirt pretty fast.

In fact, he has already worn it three days straight. Success, if you ask me!

So anyway, I made some adjustments to Rae's fabulous pattern. What were they? Well, I widened the body of the 5T, expanded the shoulder seams, and left the arms almost rectangular (instead of tapered). My son also likes longer sleeves, so I gave them an extra couple inches. (One thing he loves to do is roll his sleeves up, so it's easier when they're loose.) A couple other things I did: I sewed on the cuffs BEFORE sewing up the sleeves. I think this looks so much better. The seems, of course, matches perfectly and there's no uncomfortable smooshing going on with sewing the cuff to the small wrist after the arm has been sewn. The last thing I did to create a better finish on this shirt was apply the collar differently. I just recently noticed that Rae put in another option for sewing on the collar which hides the seam. What you do is sew the raw edges of the collar and shirt to the INSIDE of the neckline, then flip the collar over to the right side, tuck the raw edge under (pin pin pin) and sew it down. It's just like doing the binding on a quilt. And it looks great!

I'm really very happy with it. EXCEPT - and I almost forgot to tell you this - I broke a needle sewing on the pockets AND it threw off the alignment of my machine. UGH! I looked all over for ideas on how to realign the needle with the throat plate and came up empty. So I called the shop where I bought the machine 4 years ago, and they said I needed to have it professionally re-aligned. The estimate came back with a $96 price-tag, which includes a cleaning, a tension adjustment, and bringing the machine back up to "factory standards." Turns out, I needed to change my knit-friendly needle with a heavy-duty one to sew together the fur, flannel, and knit. (Oops.) And it happened with only about 2" to go until I was done with the entire shirt. (So I hand-finished the pocket.) But geez... I feel pretty dumb not even thinking about changing my needle. I'm sure the nice lady at the shop was choking back laughter as I explained over the phone what had happened. (I wasn't about to tell her I had a blog!)

Anyway, that's that. Anyone interested in a tutorial on how to do bear paw pockets? If there's enough (any?) interest, I'll put a tutorial together (haven't done one of those in a while.). I'm sure my daughter would like a matching shirt. In the meantime, I'm doing some embroidery while the machine gets fixed. I'll show you some pics in a few days. :) 

I'm linking up with these parties!

The Pteranodon T-Shirt

Well, this shirt got a little carried away. I *think* it works, but seriously, I'm not sure. I kinda think it looks a little Trek-y with the collar (Spoc-ish with the green?). My husband assures me it doesn't. Still...I'm not sure.

It started with a simple idea -- a pteranodon. I found a nice silhouette online and proceeded to apply him the same way I did the allosaurus on this shirt. (But did you know that a pteranodon is not, actually, a dinosaur? I'm learning things all the time from my 5-year-old.) Then the clouds needed to be added. And then the embroidered FLY. Oh, and I couldn't forget the French knot eye on the non-dinosaur.

Then my son turns around. Is that a strip of fabric going down the back? And stripes on the side? What??

Here's the full disclosure: I cut my front and back pieces with the stretch going the wrong way. And didn't realize it until AFTER I did all the applique and embroidery (BIG GROAN). I needed to add those black strips for breathing room. (There are patches under his arms too.) I HAD to save the shirt...

 Lesson learned: I do not do my best work late at night. Kudos to all those sewists who are up till midnight (and beyond) working. I just can't do it. (Hanging head.)

 (Enough already, Mom)

I'm hoping this shirt will be worked into the rotation. I let my son pick out his school clothes and when he kept choosing the allosaurus shirt over store-bought shirts (which totally thrilled me) I figured I had to make him something else. Unlike my daughter, my son typically loves everything I make for him. I'm hoping this one is comfy enough with all the fixings. Tomorrow will be the test...(fingers crossed). I may or may not place it on the top of his shirt pile, for no reason at all...

Pattern: Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee
Fabric: the black is rib knit; white and yellow are Kona cotton; all from Joann's
Embroidery: backstitch on FLY using 4 red threads
I'm linking up with these parties!

The Allosaurus Shirt

I've been making a lot of things for my daughter lately and was feeling a little under-appreciated. Hmm. So I decided to turn my attention to my son's wardrobe. He's 5, and I have to say, he has *always* appreciated everything I've made him - from blankets, to pillows, to clothes. I mean, he is the one who pulls out the toy sewing machine and wants to sew along with me. It's too cute. So I decided to make him something really useful. I bought Rae's Flashback Skinny Tee and set to work.

Way back in September, I bought a handful of dinosaur shirts for the start of the new school year and finally decided I should probably make my own. I asked my son what kind of dinosaur he wanted on his shirt and he said...an Allosaurus. Then he brought me this book for inspiration. (See what I mean? He gets INTO it.)

I let him help me find an image online and this is the one we settled on. If you are not familiar with the mighty Allosaurus, let me tell you that this creature was pretty fierce. He was a large predator that lived in the Late Jurassic time (before T-Rex) and prowled the landscape that is now Utah. Different books and websites will give you varying illustrations of him, but the silhouette we found seems to be pretty accurate (the book is, unfortunately, outdated). Note, also that the silhouette has 3 fingers (the T-Rex only had 2 on each hand). Anyway, let's get back to the sewing. If you have a little boy, I'm sure you know these things anyway!

I used Steam-a-Seam and traced the dinosaur out of yellow fabric, then red for the stripes. (Plant-eaters, though easier to applique, are apparently not as cool. Darn.) The teeth were a little tricky to sew down, but I think they turned out all right. I finished off with a French knot for the eye. Watch out little Jurassic critters!

 Note: For this shirt, I made it a half-inch bigger all the way around (except for the sleeves). My first "draft" of the 5T shirt was a little snug. So this version looks much better. Next time around, I'll shorten the sleeves a tad.

Overall, I'm very happy with the way this shirt turned out. I LOVE the pattern and can't wait to make more shirts and variations of such for both my kids (thinking jersey dress for my daughter, hmmm). Anyway, my son proudly wore his Allosaurus shirt to school last week, and as far as I know, no one asked him if his mom made it. Success!

[Here's an outtake from my photo-shoot. Dontcha just love helpful kids?] Happy Thursday!!