A Giraffe Applique

                - GIRAFFE -

For our little guy's birthday, I decided to make him an applique of an animal that he likes very much: A Giraffe. I searched on line and found this sweet idea and tutorial on appliques from Sew like my mom. Melissa, from whom I got this great project, is listed in my blogroll. You should check her site. She has a lot of great ideas.

I am very pleased with the result considering that it was my 3rd applique (ever)! :-)




The Giraffe Applique Project: 
I used the exact same template of the giraffe, fabric designs idea from Melissa's online sample, and used the same stitch selection.


Template:
I printed the picture of the sample. Because the picture of the giraffe was not symmetrical, I selected the side that I like the most, trace around it, flip it on the other side to get a full and regular face and neck for the giraffe. Now, I could use my template to trace on the applique paper. I used "Steam-A-Seam".

Long sleeve shirt, Fabric and Threat:
The long sleeve shirt was bought online from Dharma Trading Company. As for the fabric color palette, I went for light blue, brown, light beige (fabric with design) with a layering of polka dots, and bright green (plain fabric). The threat was the same color as the plain fabric.

Stitch Selection: Zig Zag. To saw the different pieces of fabric, I used the sewing machine. However, I did not used the pedal. I just turned the flywheel for the entire project. It was easier to move around the fabric and adjusting the foot of the machine at every turn and at a speed that I could control.


                         HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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Follow-Up (January 15, 2013)
After washing the shirt several times, you can see the "shadow" of extra fabric laying underneath the green piece of fabric. Make sure to have just a little piece of fabric and not has much for your layering. For my next project, the width of my stitch style (Zig Zag most likely) will be the same as the extra fabric that I will allow.

Watch out for your next applique project