A Top...with a "Tattoo"

This top for my niece Willow was such fun to make!

Inspired by a post on Stacy's Blog quite a long time ago, I purchased the book "Tattoo Tees". It is a Leisure Arts book, IBSN- 978-1-60140-766-5


The book has several transfers, meant to resemble "tattoos". What I really like about these transfers is that they are shaded, intended to look like they've faded over time.

So, after I had sewn a quick knit top based on an Ottobre pattern that, when finished looked so...very...boring, I applied one of the transfers. I think it gives the top just enough panache to please a hip kid.

Lindsay asked:
"... how did you get this to look so perfect? My iron-on attempts always look sloppy."

It helps that this iron-on is not meant to look perfect, LOL! And I was lucky that this kid-size top fit on my ironing board...I didn't have to reposition anything in the middle of pressing. Also, instead of just putting paper between the layers of the shirt to prevent "bleed through", I used a piece of heavy card-stock paper (the kind from which I make my pattern blocks). That gave me a nice firm surface on which to press. After I taped the transfer to the shirt with painters' tape, I lowered my ironing board a bit, then really "leaned" onto the iron for extra pressure. All that and some luck gave me a good result :)