The Intersection Tee

This tutorial was originally a guest post that I did over at Twin Dragonfly Designs during One for the boys: T-shirt Week, but I think it's a fun project and worth repeating here...

My little guys spend 90% of their lives in T-shirts, so I love to find fun ways to embellish and customize them.

The tutorial I'm sharing today uses something a little unexpected to turn a plain white Tee into wearable textile art...Plastic Lanyard!  

You can buy the lanyard at any craft store.  It can be flat or shaped like a tube and is usually used for making bracelets or key chains.  Today I'm going to show you how easy it is to use the lanyard to make:

You will need a T-shirt, approx. 1 1/2 yards of lanyard in your choice of colors, a washable/disappearing marking pen or chalk, sewing machine, thread and an adorable little boy to wear the finished shirt!

Wash and dry your T-shirt to preshrink it. (I know it's a drag, but take the time now so that the shirt doesn't shrink after you've sewn the lanyard on - that would REALLY be a drag!!!)

Draw out your design on the Tee.

I used a ruler to make three straight, evenly spaced lines vertically and horizontally.

Be sure you use a marking device that will wash out or fade away especially if you're using any transparent lanyard.

Decide where you want each color and cut a piece of lanyard slightly longer than each line you've drawn.

Line up your drawn line and the lanyard under the presser foot of your sewing machine.

Stitch the lanyard in place using your hand to keep it lined up.
I used two different zig-zag stitches to sew the lanyard in place.  For the first inch or so, I used a broken zig-zag so that the needle would actually go through the lanyard, anchoring it to the shirt.  Then I switched over to a regular zig-zag stitch, sewing around the lanyard rather than through it for most of it's length.  Then, I switched back to the broken zig-zag to anchor the other end.

If you are lucky enough to own one, you can use a specialized couching foot to attach the lanyard (these feet go by all sorts of names: couching, cording, piping, braiding, etc.)...but a standard presser foot and a bit of patience will give the same results (I used  my "monogram" foot because I love that is clear in the center and lets me see where I'm sewing).

While you sew, be sure not to stretch the T-shirt or the lanyard, that would result in a roller coaster of hills and valleys instead of a smooth finish.

Continue to stitch each piece of lanyard down over the lines.

After all of the lanyard pieces are in place, trim the ends as close as you can to the stitches.

Viola!  The Intersection Tee!

You can safely wash the tee in a cold temp wash and machine dry on medium (I tested it!).

I love the way the lanyard looks with the stitching around it, 

but I especially love the texture...notice my little Zander feeling the stripes in the center photo!

I hope this inspires you to create a super cool T-shirt and to think a little outside of the box with your craft materials!

linked up at: keeping it simple, creatively living, craft-o-maniac, a life in balance, it's so very cheri, skip to my lou