| The Hello Beautiful Blog

Welcome to the 2^nd Annual Handmade Holidays Blog Hop!

Calling all crafters! We’ve gathered designers from some of our favorite manufacturers to show you ways to create something from the heart this holiday season. This 3 day Hop includes over 60 stops with inspiration brimming from every corner. Explore all of the thoughtful and frugal handmade gifts you could create for the holidays, all in one place, during our second annual Handmade Holidays Blog Hop!

To sweeten the Hop, we’re offering a gift for you! For every comment you leave on the blogs in the Hop, you’ll be entered to win a prize pack from one of the participating manufacturer sponsors! Use the Rafflecopter widget on the Clearsnap blog to gain extra entries each day.

Today, I get to share a project with you (scroll down to the bottom of this post to see all the other projects that have been posted today). So...drum roll please.... Here's my post for the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop.

Handmade Pajamas

New pajamas make a GREAT Christmas present, and with a dizzying selection of flannel prints to chose from in your local fabric store, it's never been easier to sew up something heart felt, handmade and fabulous! My 6yr old daughter has a huge thing for cats at the moment (and long may it last in lieu of Justin What-his-face and Hannah Whatever-she's-called).

I sewed up the pajamas pants by tracing around a pair that she already owns and I know to fit her well. No pattern required! You can read all the finer details about how to do that by clicking on this link to a tutorial I wrote some time back. It's very easy, I promise.

But what I really want to share with you today, is how to turn a simple, comfy long-sleeved tee into a matching pajama top by sewing an easy reverse appliqué to the front. I used a cut of fabric taken from the fabric used to sew up the pants.

First, cut the fabric you'd like as your appliqué, slightly larger than the design itself. I allowed about an extra 1" all the way around the outside of my rectangle design. It gives you more room for sewing. Iron a piece of lightweight fusible interfacing to the back of your fabric and trim the interfacing.

On the back of the fabric (on top of the interfacing) I suggest you outline your sewing lines with a pen. Go on, make it easy for yourself.

Turn your tee inside out and pin the appliqué centrally, face-down onto the front. You should be pinning ONLY onto the front of the tee, not through to the back.

Follow your marked pen lines and sew the appliqué to the front of the tee. You will need to make sure you keep the back of the tee out of the way as you sew. I recommend sewing two lines around the outside of your appliqué. Start by stitching right over the pen lines, then go around again, about 1/4" on the outside of the first line.

Remove the tee from your machine, and using a sharp pair of scissors, snip away carefully at the tee shirt fabric inside the stitched lines. Your fabric design will reveal itself!

It's pretty tempting to snip nice and close to the stitching, but it isn't really necessary. The trimmed raw edges of knit fabric on a tee like this will simply curl and result in a nice worn-look as the tee is washed and worn and washed and worn...

And that is a very easy way to create a matching tee to complete your set of handmade pajamas. I know a little girl who is going to be happy wearing these.

Well, that's my contribution to the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop, for today. Why not go ahead and visit the list of blogs below and leave a comment on each by Nov 27, 2012 at 11:59 PM PST. Each day we will be sharing a brand new list of blogs with brand new projects for you to explore, be inspired by, and create from!

Clearsnap – http://clearsnap.blogspot.com

Hampton Art - http://blog.hamptonart.com/
Graphic45 – http://g45papers.typepad.com/

Fiskateers - www.fiskateers.com/blog

Donna Salazar Designs – http://donnasalazar.typepad.com/

Tombow USA – http://blog.tombowusa.com/

Authentique Paper http://authentiquepaper.blogspot.com/

The Twinery - http://www.thetwineryblog.com/

Eileen Hull for Sizzix http://eileenhull.blogspot.com/

Globecraft Memories – http://globecraftmemories.blogspot.com

Kristin Wilson – Graphic 45 -  http://www.kristinwilsonhandmade.com/

Jennie Garcia - Tombow -  earthyscrap.blogspot.com

Gini Williams Cagle - Hampton Art - http://ginicagle.blogspot.com/

Sabrina Alery – Clearsnap – http://Sabrinaalery.blogspot.com

DeeDee Catron - Globecraft Memories - http://umwowstudio.blogspot.com/

Michelle Grant – Donna Salazar Designs - http://michellejbg.blogspot.com

Emily Lanham – Authentique Paper -http://www.createserendipity.net

Emma Jeffery – Fiskateers - http://hellobeautifulblog.blogspot.com

Natalie Clause – The Twinery -  http://www.southernbellescharm.com/

Alberto L Juarez – Graphic 45 http://vintageodyssey.blogspot.com/

Vivian Keh - Hampton Art - http://contadinak.wordpress.com/tag/vivian-keh/

Jennifer Priest – Clearsnap – http://hydrangeahippo.blogspot.com

Heather Conklin – Authentique Paper - http://goldiecar.blogspot.com/