Scruffy Circle Applique {Tutorial}

I recently bought a few plain t-shirts from H&M with the intention of personalising them for Ava.  So, here is a t-shirt with appliquéd circles.  The idea is that when the shirt gets washed that the circle edges fray....hence the name "Scruffy Circles".

Let's get started:

Draw your circles on to some Wonder Under. 

Cut your circles out and iron them on to the back of your fabric, spacing them well apart.  This green fabric is a linen.

Cut your fabric out about 8mm bigger than your Wonder Under circle.

The Wonder Under is only there to keep your bits of fabric in the right place when you sew them down.  So, really, you could use anything sticky that is appropriate for fabric.

Then trace smaller circles on to your Wonder Under.

Iron those on to the back of a 2nd fabric, spacing them well apart.  This time cut the circles out something like 4mm bigger than your Wonder Under circle.  This yellow fabric is a quilting cotton.

Place your circles on your t-shirt to see how you would like to arrange them.  After seeing Ava wearing this shirt, I should have put the circles closer together and maybe also a smidge higher.  Peel the paper off the back of your circles and iron them on to your shirt.  I ironed on the big circles and then the small circles.

Sew the circles down.  I machine sewed, but you could also sew them on by hand with a back stitch or a running stitch.  If you are sewing by machine and are able to change your presser foot 'strength', then set it to the lightest it will go.  That will make it easy-peasy to sew around the continuous curve.  My machine has 4 levels: 0-3.  I turned my dial to 0 for this.  Leave a wider space between your stitches and circle edge on the bigger circle.  Remember to back stitch at the end.  I used a bit of fray stop on my thread ends, just in case.

Haul out your button stash and choose some buttons for the middle of your circles.

Maybe these lovely pink flowery ones?

Nope?  Maybe these spotty ones?

Nope?  Ok...then these pink ones.  And we'll stitch them on with orange thread!

Ta da!

"Mommy I can feel the buttons".  Please tell me that she isn't getting picky about what I do to her clothes already!?

Go forth and get sticking and sewing!

Cover the stains on an old t-shirt or decorate a new one...it could be a stripy shirt or a plain shirt - what ever floats your boat!  You could even use the same idea to patch holes in pants or shirts.

This little project really doesn't take very long.  I stole an hour or so, split into small bits - while the girls ate biscuits and made a general mess of my sewing space - to do this.  Which is why the back drops of these photo's are really not nice and neat and tidy...

I'll be back to update this page when the t-shirt has been washed!  Fingers crossed it doesn't fray into oblivion!

The scruffy circles survived the washing machine!  Oh boy...I would have felt like a complete idiot if this hadn't worked.  I am really pleased with how these have turned out.

 

Really pleased.

I think that I am going to try a heavier weight fabric next...maybe a denim?  If you give this a try, I would love to hear how you got on.