sewing a gathered skirt onto a child's t shirt?

Question

Does anyone have any ideas for decorating the tshirt after sewing a gathered cotton skirt onto the bottom? I am doing three of these for my granddaughter that will be starting Pre-K. I plan to applique a heart with ruffle onto one. And a neckerchief, fastened at the shoulder, onto another. But, i need a third idea. I did somem searching online, but guess I got stuck...I didn't come up with anything new. Thanks!

Answer 1

In addition to these great suggestions, when I made some of these for my daughter many years ago, I also put bands of skirt fabric at the hems of the sleeves and different styles of collars at the neck.

Answer 2

Big ribbon bows are popular around here. I'd put one big one off center where the skirt and shirt meet (you could even stitch a band where they join like a belt.) and then put a smaller matching one at the neck in center. You could even add a ribbon rose or flower to the bows.

Answer 3

How about sewing a row of small colorful buttons from one shoulder seam to the other across the front of the shirt to create a 'necklace'. You could include a small charm in the center of the necklace.

Answer 4

Have you thought about printing something on the front of the shirt? You can print anything you want on to ' printable iron on transfer paper '. It is available in any office supply store, or your local craft store ( the larger ones )Take whatever you want and print it on this transfer paper. Then you iron it on. Just a suggestion: do a picture of her pet. It would be a conservation starter. What a neat Grandmother you are!

Answer 5

I don't know what equipment you have on hand, but I have seen the shirts embellished with a machine embroidered image on the chest. The shirts were backed with interfacing and a flower, cat or boat were embroidered in thread that matched the skirt.