Embellished Toddler Tee & Capris

My niece is turning one today! In honor of her birthday, I embellished a ruffled tee shirt and capris that I purchased at Kohls. I like their Jumping Beans line of infant and toddler clothing because so far they have run true-to-size and they don't shrink after the initial wash. I started with some fabric scraps that my sister and I both love. I cut a 1 1/2 inch strip of fabric that was about 12 inches long. I folded over the edges and ironed it to form an enclosed strip for a ruffle. Then I sewed a straight stitch down the middle of it to keep the fabric together. Next I sewed down the middle of it again, on the thinnest part of the fabric, using the longest straight stitch. Then I gathered the fabric and, folding the ends under, sewed the new ruffle in the middle of original white ruffles.

Next I cut a heart shape out of scrap paper and used that as a pattern to cut the fabric and fusible webbing. After peeling the paper backing off of the heart, I ironed it onto the front of the tee shirt after first making sure that it was in the middle of the front of the shirt. Because the shirt is knit, I ironed a square of fabric stabilizer onto the inside of the front of the shirt. Then I used a decorative stitch to sew the heart onto the shirt.

I had some heart buttons so I sewed them onto each end of the new ruffle and I replaced the original non-functioning button on the front of the pants. I also sewed the hearts onto the front pockets and the outside of the legs of the capris.  I like how it turned out ~ a sweet heart outfit for a loved little girl.