Saturday, March 28, 2009

Applique

Due to recent crafty indulgences at a Jo Ann fabric store that went out of business, I'm not allowed to buy any gifts for a while. I have to make them all.

But don't worry! My pockets are shallow, but my stash is deep.

So anyway, this is probably cheating, but after I made this little baby shower gift for my friend Sheena, I stumbled upon the Five Dollar Challenge, sponsored by the craftabulous Lindsay. And although this is not decorative item for the home, per se, I totally followed all the other rules. Accidentally, of course.



I found a stack of heavyweight Hanes sweats and t-shirts at my local Dollar Tree a couple weeks ago. I could tell the batch was full of "irregulars," and a lot of the clothing had visible flaws. But I parked myself on the floor like any persistent dollar shopper does, and sorted through that stack until I'd found a couple baby t-shirts and a pair of baby sweatpants that looked perfect.

I brought them home, dug out some fabric, buttons and embroidery floss from my stash, and got to it. (My inspiration for the dragonfly design came from a project featured in this book.) I can point out lots of flaws (puckered stitching, messy seams), but I still like the end result. And with any luck, so will Sheena's baby.

Total spent: $2.00

And as long as you're still here, I might as well show you the little shirt I made for Stephanie's baby boy. (I also made matching pajama pants and a burp cloth in the firetruck flannel, but I didn't include those in the photo. Why? Because I'm an idiot.)

This one only cost $1.00, because I made the (invisible) pants myself.

You can't tell this from the photo, but my favorite part is that the dog's ear is fuzzy. Like a dog's ear. Here look.

Yeah, there's some genuine dog hair stuck to that shirt too. I didn't include that in my cost breakdown, cause my dog gives it away for free.

Posted by Picasa

7 comments:

Building Dave said...

TOO cute! I might have to copy you for a shirt for my 2 girls...do you mind? Great job!

Boss said...

Of course! That is, of course you can copy, although I don't consider it copying because I adapted the idea from someone else, and everyone always adds their own flair. Thanks for the compliment. I'd love to see what you do!

Small House said...

WOW, cute and a good deal to boot. Thanks for sharing.
Sandra

Plowgian Page said...

So darling. I love the colors and patterns you've mixed. As for parking your self on the floor at the store and sorting, I do that kind of stuff all the time.

Lindsay @ Makely said...

Oh, my goodness! I'm in love! So, so sweet!

Boss said...

Wow, thanks for all those nice comments. And for visiting! Come back any time! ;)

debbi said...

adorable!!
(found your site thru Lindsay)