Happy Father’s Day everyone!

We had two father’s to cater for here and being a crafty type I decided that homemade was the way to go. As you’ll probably all know from a previous post I’m a bit addicted to applique at the moment. So it seemed logical to put this to good use, but can you really applique things for a man??

I was trying to think what might be a useful present to give and remembered that my husband had complained of needing more tshirts. Thankfully good quality plain cotton t-shirts are not that expensive and are usually available at most shops.

Next I had to tailor my designs to suit the recipients. My Dad has quite a few hobbies but none seemed like the kind of thing I could translate into a t-shirt design. Luckily he also has a great sense of humour and is often to be seen doing silly walks to amuse the children, have you guessed where I’m going with this one yet? One internet search later and I had decided on my design. Here is the finished homage to monty python

Next my husband. He’s a arty type in his own right so making something to impress him might have been harder. Luckily or unluckily depending on how you look at it, he’s been annoying me for weeks by shouting ‘Bazinga!’. If you don’t know the reference he’s a fan of the comedy show ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and this is the catchphrase of one of the stranger characters Sheldon. End result:

Tips for creating your own tshirts

Remember that if you draw your image and then trace it onto bondaweb you will get a mirror image out of your fabric. If (as in the case of letters) they need to be the right way round make sure you trace them in reverse before applying to the fabric.

Next make sure you use a good quality fabric to applique with, t-shirts are not a delicate piece of clothing and yours should be able to stand up to the daily traumas of casual clothing.

Finally sew, sew, and sew it on until you are sure the design will not crumble, fray or generally get destroyed by your washing machine.