I am still alive, faithful followers....but barely! I feel like I just can't get caught up no matter how hard I try. I wanted to put this out there: I have been having much more frequently what are commonly called 'ocular migraines'. I was wondering if anyone else out there had any info they could share with me about this. Of course, the first time it happened I was sure I was going blind from the Lyme. It was super-scary, but I did a little research, and spoke to my Neurologist who said to just keep a log and if they become 'too frequent' to come in. What is 'too frequent'?? Do any of you know anyone that has these and has determined some sort of 'trigger'?? I still have not put two and two together with these.
Okay, enough with that. Let's get down to the good stuff!! *Blingaholics* unite! I have a fun project with freebies I am sharing today. If you are interested in creating some shirts of your own, just leave a comment or send me an email, and I will email you the embroidery font files *free of charge*!
Be sure to let me know what format your machine uses! My son goes to a new High School that opened last year with Freshman and Sophomore's only. Awesome! Beautiful campus, excellent staff, no Senior 'meanies' to detract from the excitement of Freshman year. One HUGE problem though.....Ugly school sweatshirts and T-shirts!! I have seen some from other schools in the area, and ours are definitely some of the ugliest! (sorry to whoever 'designed' them) I thought there was certainly room for improvement- let's leave it there. The beauty (??) of this project is that you can use the ideas to apply to any group. These pics for instruction are actually from some sweatshirts I am doing for another school.
First the 'legal stuff':
These designs are my own, and are copyrighted. You may use these ideas and files to create your projects and sell those projects. You may not copy or download these files and use the files for resale. I am giving this away to you, please do the same, but give credit or a linkback to Ticklish Moose and this blog. :)
A few notes about this project:
It is designed for use with machine embroidery, but you could also make templates with a graphics program and sew around the letters with a regular sewing machine, or even by hand! The project I am posting today is 'reverse applique'. I will also post a different project next week with the sweatshirts I have been doing with 'regular applique'. You can use either one of the files I will send you to do the reverse or regular applique.
I buy Guildan sweatshirts from Jiffy Shirts
I use between 40 and 60 5mm Hotfix crystals per sweatshirt.
April at A Crafty Family is my source for the crystals, and her level of customer service is second to none!
The first thing I want to discuss if fabric choice. From experience I have found that definite geometric prints do not work well for either of the applique applications. Random patterns, solids, batiks or blending fabrics are going to be your best bet. Use a good quality quilting cotton type of fabric, or even t-shirt knits. Pre-wash and dry both the sweatshirt and the fabric so you don't get any 'wonky' shrinkage after you are finished.
Second- use a good quality, medium weight, cut away stabilizer. Use a needle made for stretch/knit fabrics! I use a 90/14 ball point. If you use a sharp you will just punch/tear holes in the knit.