Little Man Tie Applique

I have been itching to get my hands on a little tie t shirt for my son for forever now. (I blame Tiffany mostly, who has made a few adorable versions for her adorable son and I've been drooling over them ever since.) So when I got myself a sewing machine, I rushed out and picked out several different fabrics to make a perfect little tie t shirt. Unfortunately, the sewing machine has still never been turned on, (because of a missing bobbin holder), but with an upcoming beach vacation I decided that desperate times called for desperate measures, and I would just try to figure something out.

There are probably other tutorials on tie t shirt making, but I thought I'd share how I made mine with you today.

First, I got myself some Wonder Under at Hobby Lobby, and the lady assured me that it would turn any piece of fabric into an applique. Perfect!!

I made a little template for my ties by folding a piece of paper in half length-wise, sketching a little tie shape, cutting it out and holding it up to holding it up to one of my son's shirts, and then trimming it a bit until I was happy with the length and width.

I put my template underneath the Wonder Under, traced an outline on the smooth side of the paper, and cut out my little tie shape. I then put it underneath my fabric (rough side up), and ironed it on.

I trimmed the tie shape out of the fabric with the adhesive paper still attached. I then peeled off the paper...

placed the tie knot under the collar of the t shirt, covered it with a damp rag and ironed it for about 10 seconds.  I then finished by doing the same with the tie tail.

Easy and so cute!!

Once it was finished, I was so in love that I decided to try out my other fabrics too, just to give him some summertime options. Then I thought it would be cute if he had a little "The Killers" inspired skinny black tie. So I made...a few.

How many tie t shirts does one little boy need? As many as his mom feels like making!! And as many as will max out the solid colored t shirts in the house, luckily some are a size up so we can keep a few tie t shirts in his wardrobe for a year or so now. :)

I did try out a few different iron on fabric adhesives in this project, and the short run down on those is, the Wonder Under (both regular and strong hold) both will need further stitching to secure the applique, and are great options for some of the fabrics that would look adorable with detail stitching, especially in a complimentary color. For a complete no-sew option, the strongest fabric adhesive I tried was Heat N Bond's Ultra Hold.

Have fun with this! Especially if your little guy starts striking all sorts of smoldering Ralph Lauren-esq poses when the camera is out! :)

Is there a little guy in your life who needs a tie t shirt? Did you love one of these fabrics? These appliques, and a few others, are all available in my etsy shop here, with either light or strong adhesive options.

Here are some fun link parties to check out as well.

Have a great week and see you next Monday!