Initial and star applique shirt (and making lemonade out of lemons!)

Today is our nephew's 2nd birthday party.  As part of our gift, I planned to make an initial tshirt.

Great idea, right? 

Well, it sure was until I tried to take the pocket off.  Even being super careful, I still managed to poke a hole right through the shirt. 

I was all ready to head back to Target to pick up another one and start over when I saw (okay, tripped over) a star puzzle piece in our playroom. 

Perfect! 

Stars would be a cool addition to the shirt and would totally cover up my mistake in a not-so-obvious way!  I cut 3 stars for the front of the shirt and one for the back. 

There are a million tutorials out there on how to make shirts with appliques, so I'll spare you the boring details.  I used Heat n Bond lite sewable iron-on adhesive  for the initial and stars.  Basically, all you need to do is iron it, paper side up, to the back of the fabric you want to applique.  Then cut out a shape, peel the backing, and iron it to your shirt.  Stitch along the edge of the applique, and you're done!

What's the best way to make slightly imperfect sewing perfect?  Intentionally make it imperfect.  I love the contrasting thread color and the crazy stitching.

 

And here's how it turned out...

I like it even better this way!  I am so glad I made my mistake, because this turned out great!  Talk about making lemonade out of lemons...

Even though I am super thrilled with my final project, I think I will just go to Old Navy next time and get one of their long sleeve tees without pockets!