Cuteify your T ~ Leave it to me

I l.o.v.e fall....but I'm not real fond of fall colors.  They just don't excite me...AT ALL!  I once had my colors done (am I dating myself?) and they told me I was Autumn....well I just defied them and said I was Winter!  And wore all the bold colors...blue, red, green, BLACK!  I guess I haven't outgrown my defiance because I still don't wear those colors...even in the fall!

But one thing that does scream Fall, no matter what color, are leaves!  I love the cascading effect that this top has.  It is very flattering as it curves around and down the torso area. 

Let's get started...

Materials

1 T-Shirt that fits

Fabric scraps.  I used different fabric types.  Cotton quilting fabric, ribbed cotton knit and regular knit.  Remember the houndstooth print from when I made these and this?  I'm using up those scraps baby!

Small scrap of fusible interfacing

Instructions

1.  Make sure to wash and dry your shirt before working with it.  You don't want it to shrink after you attach all this fabric to it!  I am using Mod Bod shirts that I picked up at my local Costco a while back.  You can buy them online here.  They are fab and totally worth the money.  I used them in my previous tutorial also 

2.  Grab some fabrics and after you have your color scheme chosen, just cut out some leaf type shapes.  It doesn't have to be perfect.  Make sure to vary the sizes.  I wouldn't choose more than three different fabrics.

3.  Knits do not fray, and i wanted some shabbiness to the shirt, so I left them un-sewn.  The cotton needed to be sewn right sides together and turned just to prevent threads all over the place.

4.  Take the leaves and arrange them on your shirt in whatever way is pleasing to your eye.  I had several different layouts before I settled on this one.  Once settled, take a picture with your camera for reference.  Turn your shirt inside out and add some fusible interfacing to the area that will be sewn.  

5.  Begin removing all the leaves, beginning with the top and work your way down until the last leaf is still there at the bottom.  Pin in place and sew.  I just used a scant 1/4" straight stitch.

6.  Referring back to your picture, take the next leaf and pin it down.  It will be overlapping the first one a bit, that's OK....we are creating layers.

7.  Continue all the way up, being careful to refer back to your picture for placement.  Continue all the way up the T until you get to the top. 

8.  At the shoulder seam, just make sure the point of the leaf is trimmed so it comes to a point and doesn't stick up.  I even added a few leaves on the back.

Now go make one and show us what you did  :)

I do have to share one thing:  My hubby was the photographer this time around (all the times around actually).  Now, he's not a man that pays attention to detail, hence that big ol' RV in the background.  I had no idea I was posing for American Camping until I uploaded them to my computer several hours later.  Arghhh. Every photo had this white beast in it.  I had to do some tricky photo-shopping to eliminate it most of it from the pictures.  But I thought it was too funny not to show at least one with it.  By the way that is our neighbors RV that has been parked there for several years....seriously!  They are prime candidates for hoarders.

See you soon!

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