No Sew Thanksgiving Turkey Applique

Tom Turkey Thanksgiving Applique

I love the look of appliques on kids clothes, and there are some really talented people out there who can make things that are just outstanding - but can be pretty expensive.  For my daughter's first birthday and for some other special occasions I bought several of this type of clothing and wished I could have done it myself.  Well, I was thinking about my grandmother and remembered that when I was a kid she made holiday sweat shirts with appliques on them that she didn't have to sew.  So I searched my memory and remembered that she used stitch witch to make hers along with fabric swatches, so I thought I would give this a try (but in plenty of time to order my kids one from a "professional" if it didn't turn out like I wanted).  I am more than pleased with how this turned out, I made two, exactly the same so my girls will match on Thanksgiving, and I spent under twenty dollars - total.  What a deal, I spent more than that on one last year!  Not to mention they look like a professional made them.  I can't wait to show my kids off in these shirts come Turkey Day! 

To make the turkey body I used brown fabric - I bought 1/4 yard and was able to make two of these shirts, and have enough for one more.  I took a country crock butter tub top and a sour cream tub top and stacked them like I was making a snowman.  I then traced that onto my fabric and cut my turkey body out.

For the feathers, I took a piece of cardboard and cut out a feather shape.  I then traced this on 6 different color patterned fabrics - I bought an 1/8 of a yard of each fabric and have extra to spare. 

For the beak, I just free hand cut a triangle with one of my orange based color fabrics.  For the neck I used some left over red fabric and again free hand cut that shape.

To make the pattern stick I bought stitch witch - it is sold in rolls of 7 yards a package and cost $4.99.  This is really easy to use, the directions are on the package but you simply put the fabric on the adhesive, bottom side down and run an iron over it.  Then you peel the fabric up - the backside will be sticky, and like a puzzle you then piece your turkey together on your shirt.  The stitch witch does not bind to your fabric until you iron it back on so you can move everything around until you get it just as you want it.  Once you have everything as you want it to look - run your iron over the fabric pieces and its done.

You'll notice I made 2 shirts - 1 is 24 months and one is 6/9 months.  I used the same size turkey, I just spread the feathers onto the back of the smaller shirt, so it looks as if the turkey is wrapping around the body.  Also, I like a more finished look, so I used gold glitter puff paint and trimmed out the turkey and all its pieces.  This dried looking as if it was stitched all around the parts and really gives a nice pop to shirt.  Finally, I did sew two buttons on as the eyes.  To bring it all together I used a gold thread to match my paint trim.  Both shirts start to finish took me just over an hour.  That includes making my "pattern," cutting, ironing the shirts and the applique, completing the outlining in paint, and sewing the eyes. 

If you like this look and don't want to spend a fortune try this.  As I said it was very simple, looks expensive, and is super cute.  I can't wait to dress my girls up in this!  I will definitely be making something for Christmas now that I know I can do it on my own in such a short amount of time with such a professional look.



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