Easter Bunny Applique - Tutorial

The year is flying by and Easter is just around the corner - kind of a pain actually - have you tried shopping in the supermarket with a three year old when every display is laden with brightly coloured bunnies, eggs and chickens all made of chocolate? Nightmare!

Here is a simple tutorial to turn a plain kids t-shirt into something lovely for Easter, although bunnies are pretty cute and your kids could wear their bunny shirts all year around! You don't even need a sewing machine to make this!

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You need -
- a plain cotton t-shirt
- cotton quilting fabric scrap for applique
- small amount of applique paper (Heat n Bond / Vliesofix - if you are not sure, ask the assistant at your local fabric store)
- grey lead pencil, scissors
- iron
- thread, button for eye, needle

First you need to find a create a template for your applique. I found my bunny shape by doing a Google image search on 'bunny silhouette'. Save the picture you like, insert it into a word document, adjust to the size you want, print it, and cut it out.

Applique paper can be expensive, so I try to use it sparingly. Use your template as a guide to cut a piece, then iron it adhesive side down onto the wrong side of the fabric.

Cut the piece from the excess fabric, use your template to trace the bunny onto the paper, then cut out your bunny shape.

Peel away the backing paper and position your applique carefully onto your shirt.

Iron your applique onto your shirt.

If you want a super quick project, you can finish it there - the adhesive bond on the applique paper is strong enough to keep the applique on the shirt even during washing. Personally I like to add an eye and hand stitch around the bunny to finish it off.

You can also machine stitch the edge of your applique with a straight stitch, a small zig zag stitch, or a satin stitch. There are some great tips on applique in this post by Pam from Threading My Way.

Here is my finished product:

And despite it being a t-shirt for a boy, a didn't have a male model - you will have to settle for a picture of this cute model instead ;) I suppose it really is a unisex t-shirt!

 If you do make one, I'd love to see it, make sure you share it with us over at the Sew Delicious Flickr pool.