Create a memory that will last long after your children grow out of their onesies! This project is a really unique, thoughtful, and quick gift for Mother’s Day.

A note from Sarah (our sweatshirt model and inspiration): This project is a great keepsake to hold on to the memories of your little ones. I found myself saving so many of my daughter’s outfits. Some, I loved when she wore them, and others, she only fit in once. Instead of constantly running to the donation center, I decided to repurpose a few of my favorites. As my Daisy Girl Scout said while I was making this, “I like that you’re using resources wisely!”

Materials Needed

• Sweatshirt
• Variety of old knits (I used different leggings and shirts I thought coordinated well together)
• ¼ yard of Woven Fusible Backing (We love B-Luxe Cotton-Woven Fusible Stabilizer, Fusible Backing, but SF101 will also work)
• ¼ yard of Heat N Bond Iron-On Adhesive
• Cotton thread

Choose + Format Your Text

First, decide what you want your shirt to say! Are you a “Mom” or a “Mama”? Another great idea is using the initials for your children.

Next, create template letters for your word. You can trace your own—I used Word to help create a letter guide. It’s really easy to create letter guides in Word that you can print to size. I used Aptos font 500 in Black, and then in Word Art I changed the features to create an outline (see below).

Once I created my letters, I placed the paper on my sweatshirt and thought they were too small. So, I ended up extending the legs of the letters to make them longer. Play around with your letters as sizing will depend on the number of letters and your sweatshirt size.

The final size of my letters is 5¼” tall x 2¾” wide

Cut Your Knits + Attach Fusible Backing

Now it’s time to cut your knits. Rough-cut areas of each of your knit fabrics by cutting off the sleeves and cutting the seams open.

Next, it’s time to iron on Fusible Backing. Iron fusible backing to the wrong side of your knits. The fusible makes your knits more stable to work with and prevents stretching. The bumpy or rough side of the fusible is the glue and will go against the wrong side of your fabrics. Follow the instructions on your fusible. Hot Tip: Be sure to use a towel or some other sort of protective covering or any extra fusible will stick to your iron.           

Prepare Letters with Interfacing - Creating Applique Pieces

Trace your letters onto Heat N Bond Iron-On Adhesive. Remember: there are two sides to your fusible; one is rough like glue and the other is paper and feels smooth. On the paper/smooth side, trace the reverse image of your letter. In my case, the mirror image is the same as the regular version, but be sure to pay attention if you are using letters that are directional. Not reversing your letters will cause the final letter to be backwards!

Rough cut the Heat N Bond around your letters. Leave at least ¼” around the letters. You will cut them accurately once fused to your fabrics.

Iron the Heat N Bond letters on to the wrong side of your knit fabric. On the wrong side of your knit (the side with the woven fusible backing), iron on your Heat N Bond. 

Cut out your prepared letters. Once Heat N Bond is ironed to your fabric, cut out your letters.

Align and Attach Letters to Sweatshirt (Machine Appliqué)

Now it’s time to align and iron your letters onto your sweatshirt. First, peel the paper from the Heat N Bond. 

To align my letters, I used a ruler going across from armpit to armpit. This gave me a stable line to follow across the width of my shirt. Once I was happy with the placement, I ironed down the fabric letters.

Secure Letters with Appliqué Stitches

Now it’s time to stitch and secure the letters with appliqué stitches. 

Using a blanket stitch, (I used #79 on my Bernina 350) slowly stitch around each of the letters. I practiced first by ironing one of my templates to scrap fabric to make sure I could work around the corners and turns of the letter. 

Hot Tip: When picking your thread, try to find one that coordinates with all the fabrics. I found that dark green stood out and coordinated well. If you don’t want your stitches to be as noticeable, then go with a lighter thread.

You can experiment with the type of stitches to see which kind you like best. This is blanket stitch:

And this is Zig Zag and Straight Stitch:

We created a machine appliqué stitch tutorial so you can follow along to learn how to make these three different stitches: blanket, zig zag, and straight stitch:

My final letters:

Wear with Pride

Put on your new, personalized sweatshirt and enjoy! Warning: you will be told how cute your sweatshirt is!

Pin this post and save it for the next time you need a really great gift!