Top-toberfest Day Two: Raglan Shirt with Owl Applique and Freezer Paper Stenciling

Welcome to day two of Top-toberfest. I am getting excited about all of the great tops that have linked up in the show and tell. If you haven't looked at them yet, then be sure to hop on over and sneak a peek before you're through.

Today I'm sharing a raglan sleeve top with an appliqued reverse applique....hmmm, that doesn't quite sound right, but we'll roll with it.

Jess from Craftiness Is Not Optional is hosting a sew along this week for an adorable girl's top, if you weren't blessed with boys.

Click read more below for additional details.




The shirt itself is sewn from a pattern that I created using one of Clark's existing shirts.  It is actually the same  pattern as the bull dog raglan sleeve top.  With this particular top I decided to keep the all of the fabric of the shirt the same, rather than having the sleeves a contrasting color.  I used a nice knit that I picked up at Joann's on sale.  Despite all of the complaining that I've done lately about Joann's fabric selection, I do quite like their solid knits.  They have a nice weight to them, and they are quite soft.

To dress up the top I added an owl applique.  I called it an appliqued reverse applique earlier because the owl itself is a reverse applique, but the badge is appliqued to the shirt.  If anyone wants to correct me on my terminology feel free, but I am just not too picky about that sort of thing.

I love the image of the owl because it is graphic, and not at all feminine.  It seems like there are an awful lot of cutesy owl tops for girls and I really wanted to make sure that this top did not feel feminine at all.  I  found the image of the owl on Ottobre.  If you are a frequent reader of my blog you know that I love them.  They offer several free downable images for appliques.  This just happens to be one of them.  If you go to their site you will want to look for the bulldog applique, this owl (along with others) was bundled up with the bulldog.

I created the badge using Photoshop Elements.  I am assuming that most photo editing or publishing software would have similar images available.  If you don't have access to a badge (and want one) let me know and I'll provide a file.

I transferred the image of the owl to the badge using transfer paper, attached fusible pellon, and cut out the shape.  Okay I didn't quite do it in that order, but I should have.  I highly recommend transferring the image before cutting out your fabric.  I think that it is also wise to attach the pellon before cutting out your shape.

After your image is transferred you can carefully cut out the positive shapes of your image, in this case the brown areas of the owl.  Next position the badge on the shirt, and adhere using your iron.  I stitched around the owl using an olive colored thread and a triple stretch stitch.  I stitched around the badge using a machine  blanket stitch.

I also added a chevron pattern to the sleeve.  I attached them in similar fashion, pellon and a triple stretch stitch.

The text on the shirt was creating using a freezer paper stencil.  I printed off the text that I wanted, transferred it to my freezer paper, cut out the text with an x-acto knife, and adhered it to the shirt.  To create the desired color I mixed acrylic paint and a fabric paint medium.  I love this font for freezer paper stenciling because you aren't left with any free floating portions of your letters (b,p,a,d, ect.).  I believe that the font name is PortagolTC.

As you can tell I probably didn't need to worry about making a masculine shirt.  The boy has plenty of man juice running through his blood.

Note: I didn't intend on using a toy gun as a prop.  We shot photos at my parent's home and Clark's cousin volunteered the prop.  Clark gladly accepted.  What is it with boys and guns?

I'm linking up here today.