Every superhero needs their own super suit. My kids loved these and they are cute enough to let them wear still now, which is a double bonus. I basically remade their Big Brother and Big Sister t-shirts with a new “super” design. What can I say? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
What you’ll need:
- A pre-washed, blank t-shirt, one piece, or tank
- Felt or fabric piece for the applique
- Embroidery floss and needle
- Scissors (the small ones with a pointy tip work best)
- Heat n’ Bond fusible webbing
I ordered American Apparel shirts on Amazon. NOTE: these run very small, so size up. The rest of the supplies I had leftover from the last time I made these shirts. But all of the items can be purchased at Walmart or craft stores like Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc.
For the applique, I printed out lightening bolt clip art from a Google image search and an oversized R that I just put into a regular word document. I didn’t photograph all of my steps, so I apologize in advance for the detailed description sans photos. If you run into issues or have questions, feel free to email me or leave them in the comments and I’ll try to talk you through it!
Instructions:
First take the template and place it under a sheet of your fusible webbing. Trace the lightening bolt and letter on to the webbing. You’ll want to make any thin lines a little thicker so they will be easier to cut and stitch later on.
Make sure you trace your lightening bolt and letter backwards so that when you flip them over and adhere them to your shirts they read correctly.
Then iron your webbing onto your felt or fabric. Set your iron to the wool setting and make sure your steam is turned OFF. Iron the design onto your felt or fabric, holding the iron against the heat n’ bond and felt for about three seconds. Do not over iron.
Carefully cut the appliques out.
Next, peel away the paper that is still on your letters exposing your fusible webbing. Place your appliques where you want them on the t-shirt with the fusible webbing/glossy side down. Iron the applique to the garment by applying light pressure over the felt for about 10 seconds, again using the wool setting with no steam.
I got thicker felt this year after my melting snafus the last time and I couldn’t get the webbing to heat enough from the felt side, so I had to pin my appliques in place and turn the shirt inside out and then iron the shirt (does that make sense?!)
Now that your letters are attached to your garment, you’re ready to start the applique process. For this process you will stitch by hand using a straight stitch, which is a really simple stitch to master. If you aren’t sure how to straight stitch a quick youtube search will solve that problem for you.
Cut about 3-4 feet of your embroidery thread. Each skein of thread has six strands, separate two of the strands from the piece you’ve cut and thread them through your needle.
Once you have finished stitching all of the appliques, you’re done.
Be sure to wash your garments inside out, to help the felt wash and wear better.
The twins had such an awesome birthday party and I think some of these little details helped make them feel extra special. They beg to wear their superhero shirts every time they see them and Reese tells me every time she sees anything from her party that we need to throw the party again.
I love that they are finally at an age where all of the crazy things I do to celebrate the day they came into my life resonate with them. I recently saw some art on Etsy that said, “your birthday is the best day of my life”. It really is.
