DIY anchor appliqué on stripes tutorial

DIY anchor appliqué on stripes tutorial

• 2.04.2013

Had this one in the to-do pile for a long time now… excited to share this fun embellishment with you! I had planned to do a heart appliqué sweater with this great hot pink knit leftover fabric I had from a vintage skirt… I imagined doing one of those J.Crew heart sweater looks, big, asymmetrical heart appliqué on a nice crewneck sweater. And out of hot pink? Perfect, and a cute Valentine’s Day craft. But I wanted to do something a little different when it really came down to it. I thought about doing a big bow shape out of the fabric, laid flat, but I already did a DIY bow appliqué tee once, and… nah. My mom suggested an anchor. Great idea, Mom!



There are lots of inspirations for anchor sweaters, turns out! Here are some to get you warmed up ;)…

Source: lillypulitzer.com via Pinterest

Source: attitudeclothing.co.uk via Cydney on Pinterest

Source: classygirlswearpearls.com via Pinterest

Even a couple tees and sweatshirts like mine!

Gosse De Paris 'Tidal Wave' sweater

Delia's

Anchor Tee Tutorial

Okay, so here goes the anchor tee or sweater tutorial… this one’s pretty simple, and no fancy interfacing required. (You can use double-sided fusible web interfacing if you’re doing this on a thicker sweater or sweatshirt, you might want to use it on the appliqué piece.) You will need:

• Tee, sweatshirt, or sweater
• Any fabric you want to appliqué—I used a knit wool scrap
• Anchor pattern! Or any pattern you want. I found this anchor template and printed it out, scale up big to fit an 8.5”x11” page. You could do any size!
• Spray adhesive
• Optional: Fusible interfacing to put on the inside of your tee, if it’s very stretchy, or on the underside of your appliqué fabric if it’s very thin. I didn't use it this time!

1. Print and cut out your anchor pattern and spray some spray adhesive to the back of it. Stick the sticky side to the back/underside of your appliqué fabric, keeping your fabric on the grain--that is, don't put the pattern down any which-way, and let the center line be straight along the grain/weave of the fabric. This will keep it from pulling and getting distorted as you stick and sew.

2. Watching the center line of your tee (see the pins that mark mine?), press your sticky appliqué down. This was easy on the stripes, since they act as guides to keep it straight!

 3. At your machine, zigzag alllllllll the way around the anchor. This part takes a while. Don't pull on your tee  or sweater at all during this process--since it's a knit, it'll get puckery with all that non-stretchy sewing on it! Watch out! (This is where the interfacing helps if it's a super stretchy garment.)  
Done!


Super easy! That was only 3 steps! This was by far the most successful and easy project of my weekend! ;) Now, for some springy weather so I can wear it out... ;)