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I bought several t-shirts on a recent vacation, and I wanted to do something with them to make them different from all the others, so I'm passing on some ideas I had, and hope you'll share ideas with me!

LETTUCE EDGE IT!

We've been doing this for several years, but still like it, and still have people ask how it's done.

Materials:

" Ready to wear t-shirt

" Decorative Thread

Procedure:

1. Wind the bobbin with the same thread as the top.
2. Set the machine for a zig zag, about a 3mm stitch width, stitch length for desired effect. Satin stitching gives a solid edging effect, and a longer stitch length lets the fabric show through.
3. Stretch as you sew, from both the back and the front at the same time. Have the zig stitch on the fabric and the zag fall just off the edge. You can do this on the neck ribbing, and you can also do it on the sleeves. If you take off the hem at the sleeves, the fabric will stretch and ripple more. In the case of a raw edge, you'll need to go over the stitching twice, or maybe even three times to avoid "pokies" from the fabric. If you're using a serger, consider Woolly Nylon and a rolled edge or narrow balanced seam. You can go over your serging more than once to get a closer stitch or better coverage if you wish. You can also cut off the hem of the sleeves with your serger as you do your edging. I like to take the thread tails and work them back into the seam when I use a serger for lettuce edging. (The sample above was serged with Woolly Nylon.)

CUT IT UP!

Materials:

" Tracing paper

" Water soluble marker

" Thread to match the shirt

Procedure:

1. Cut geometric shapes from tracing paper, with no side less than 4" long. Label a "right" side.
2. Turn the shirt inside out and arrange the shapes ("right" side down) on the wrong side of the shirt until you like the placement. Trace around them with a water soluble marker.
3. Lay your shapes ("right" side up) on the right side of the fabric you want to use and cut out the shapes. If your fabric has some parts you like better than others, you can see through the tracing paper and pick out the parts you like. Pin the shapes with the right side of the fabric to the wrong side (inside) of the shirt. Use a 3 step zig zag (length about 1mm, width about 3mm) to sew these in place with thread that matches the shirt. Be sure your fabrics are smooth so they stay flat after stitching.
4. 4.   On the right side of the shirt, draw parallel lines about ½ apart. Carefully cut the t-shirt fabric only, on the lines, up to your zig zag stitching. Remove some of the strips to allow your fabric to show through. Here's where you can be creative. Depending on what's on your fabric, you can pull a strip out of the way like a curtain, and tack it in place, you can tack two strips together, you can cut it and let part of it hang down. Play with it and have fun!

SPONGE AND SEW IT!

Materials:

" Fabric Dye

" Decorative thread

" Miracle Sponge

" RinsAway Stabilizer

" Fabric Glue

Procedure:

1. Cut the Miracle Sponge before you wet it, into whatever shape you'd like, and then wet it to turn it into a sponge. Squeeze out the extra water.
2. Put some fabric paint on palette paper or foil. You can mix paints to get the color you need if you want to.
3. Spread the paint on the sponge's surface, and "stamp" it on your fabric. (Practice first on scrap fabric or paper towel.) Set the paint as in manufacturer's instructions.
4. Put RinsAway stabilizer under each painted area, and outline it with a decorative stitch of your choice. Remove the excess stabilizer and put fabric glue on the thread tails.