Embellish a plain shirt with favorite characters!

M is obsessed with Sesame Street so I decided to embellish a plain shirt with some of his favorite characters.

Do you want to know why this is possibly one of the best DIY tutorials I have posted so far?

It takes MAXIMUM 5 minutes
It looks completely professional
It can be customized to your likes
It can be made ridiculously cheap

I used things I already had which made it dirt cheap. M saw me making something using some scrap Sesame Street fabrics that I got off Swapmamas. Yup, I got it practically for free! He got so excited, and started yelling “beebo, beebo!” (Big Bird). I decided that I needed to make something quick that he can use now.

I had a few drab shirts that were consignment shop finds and hand-me-downs that I simply wasn’t using. Children’s clothing should be bright and vibrant, and these were too drab. This yellow shirt from H&M was washed out and dull. It was the perfect choice.

I simply cut out the shapes from the fabric and glued them onto the shirt! You can do it with any fabric that has your child’s favorite characters – or even one that just has a fun, bold print. Choose a fabric that will not fray if cut out (mine is flannel).

E6000 glue is great for fabric and doesn’t wash out (I learned this the hard way…) Yup, you really only need to know how to cut and paste to embellish a plain shirt!

Here’s a step by step tutorial…

What you need to embellish a plain shirt:

(affiliate links are included just in case you don’t have these handy!)

E6000 glue
A drab t-shirt
Fabric with fun shapes to cut out. Make sure that the shapes are simple enough that it won’t take you all day! Here’s a fun Sesame Street one that would work, or try one with Mickey. Tip: if you have a worn pair of pajamas, an old tee, or anything else with cute drawings that can be upcycled – use that!
Fabric shears and detail scissors

How to embellish a plain shirt:

1. Choose your fabric and cut out your shapes.

2. Plan it out…

3. Use E-6000 spread pretty thin around the edges. Make sure the glue goes up to the edge. Glue it on!

4. Allow it to dry completely (24 hours) before wearing.

M says yells out the names of his favorite characters every time he sees the shirt! He loves looking down at it and “talking” to Big Bird and Elmo. He just growls at Cookie Monster…