Handmade Back 2 School Week - Day 1

Today I'm kicking off my Handmade Back to School week!
I've been busy working on some fun stuff and I'm excited to show you!

For me, just before the kids go back to school is a great time to go through all their clothes and sort out what fits and what doesn't for the upcoming season. Often the long sleeve shirts from winter and early spring are getting a bit tight so I always check to see what the boys might need for the upcoming school year. And this year there's a bit of extra excitement here because my youngest is starting Kindergarten. He is super jazzed about going to his big brother's school. And I know that my oldest will watch out for him each day, so it's a bit easier for me this time around. He's a really great big brother that way.

So, let's get started shall we?!

My boys need some new shirts.
And I have a thing for argyle so I decided to incorporate it into my boys' wardrobes this year.

I bought some plain (cheap) cotton shirts from WalMart.

And while they were in the wash, I drew and cut out some diamond shaped stencils from freezer paper. 

Then I ironed the stencils onto the shirts.

And painted on the fabric paint. I recently bought a brush specific for stenciling and like it much better than using just a regular brush. I thought it was worth the extra money.

In the end, I added a couple extra diamonds because I felt it needed more.

Then I broke out some of the crochet yarn that my mom brought back for me from Portugal. 

I just love that turquoise colour.

If you wanted to try this at home, embroidery thread would work just as well.

I hand stitched lines through the middle of the diamond shapes, using a piece of tape as my guide.

And here's the end result:

I made another shirt, stitching it with my machine instead. I used Egyptian cotton thread because it seems to be a wee bit thicker (and I just love it). I thought it would be more visible that way. It would also be cute to use a double needle.

I wanted to give this shirt more of a skater look because it's for my older son so I stitched the lines without a guide, and at all different lengths etc. Then I used a brown fabric pastel over the paint to give it a not-so-perfect look. I ironed it using a piece of parchment paper, just to 'set' the pastel, and prevent it from washing off.

Then I finished it off by dabbing a small amount of anti-fray stuff on the ends of the stitching.

And there you have it. Two happy boys with new shirts for the first day of school.

Come back tomorrow and I'll show you how I made the Star Wars shirt pictured here!