And they lived......: NO SEW Valentines Day shirts

So on Sunday I had a craft day of sorts. And by day I mean the three hours that #2 was taking a nap. #1 was playing with her barbies so nicely I thought now was my chance to do a little craft therapy. There is just something about crafting that is rejuvenating to me. I just realized that makes me seem a little strange but it just makes me feel accomplished, in a weird sort of way.

I wanted to share with you the Valentine's Day shirts I made for the kids. It's kind of funny. We are not Valentine's Day kind of people. I strongly believe that when you love someone you show them each and every day. I'd rather get flowers, chocolates are whatever else people give on Valentine's Day, on a random day not when it's expected. Phew....enough of that!! Let's get on with it!!

Here goes nothing. I think they turned out great. Hubby thinks #2's shirt isn't "manly" enough but hopefully you'll take my side on this one. I mean he's only 2....geesh!

So here is #1's shirt.......

Here's how I did it....

Things you will need

Shirt...bought mine on clearance at Target, love that place!
Fabric of your choosing, I happened to have all of the fabric on hand. I have a slight fabric addiction.
Fusible Interfacing which can be bought at any fabric store or even Wal-Mart. Very inexpensive.
Iron
Scissors
Pins, not necessary but helpful

I started by opening a blank word document, typed the word love then played around with the fonts. For this one I used Segoe Script. I then set the font size to 300. This is something that you will have to play around with a little bit depending on the font you use and the size shirt you are making. I ended up having to print it out in landscape so the word would fit on one line. Since I went for the cursive look I needed the word to stay together. Confused yet?!

Once printed I cut it out. Now on this you don't have to be too exact, the exactness will come later. This will be your template. Make sure you place your template on the shirt to make sure it is the size you want. Like so.....

Now take your template. And cut a piece of fabric a little bigger than the template. You want to leave yourself a little room to work.

Now cut out a piece of the fusible interfacing just a tad smaller than your piece of fabric.

Grab your iron and make sure there is no water in it. Water=disaster. Set your iron to the hottest non-steam setting. The wrong side of the fabric needs to be next to the bumpy side of the interfacing. You will then iron the smooth side of the interfacing. Make sure to do this for a couple of minutes.

Oh and feel free to use an ironing board. I'm lazy so I just put a towel down on my counter top. Granite is indestructible right?!

Once it has cooled pin your template to the fabric. Again I'm lazy and impatient so this is something I don't do all the time but I have found that when I do it goes a lot smoother.

Once everything is in place. Start cutting. Try to cut as close to the font as you can. You will hopefully end with something like this....

Now turn it over and peel the paper off. Like so.....

I've found it easier to get the paper off when you start from an edge. Once all the paper is removed place on the shirt and then iron the design on the shirt. I probably go a little overboard on this part but I want to make sure it sticks so I iron it for about 3 or 4 minutes. Moving my iron around of course :) You can always choose to do a stitch around the edges but again, I'm lazy. Do you see a pattern here?

Hopefully you end up with something like this.