I love these shirts from Garnet Hill.  I also love almost everything else in the catalog.  Seriously.  I keep a hard copy inspiration binder and I ripped out probably half of the pages in the latest GH catalog, and that was me trying to tone it down.    Anyway.  These shirts are great.  They’re also 44$.  Forty-four dollars. 

So, I went to Walmart and got two 2$ tees.  One in my size, and one XL to cut up (because I figured, hey, for the same price, why not get more fabric?).  I cut out a bunch of flower shapes first: 

I cut the shirt into strips, folded the strip in half, cut that into segments, then cut these little shapes out.  I wanted them kind of elongated in one direction, since I’d be gathering them in that same direction.
Soon I had quite the little pile:

Some of them turned out pretty crazy, but that’s ok.  You can’t tell once they’re on the shirt.

Next, I did a gathering stitch down the middle, going long-ways.  I did some singles, but mostly doubles, like the one pictured above.  Then I gathered by pulling on my bobbin threads.  After it was gathered, I pulled the top threads to lock that sucker down.
After I had gathered all of them, it was time to place them on the shirt.  I put on the shirt and pinned the leaves in place, as guidelines.  Also, to make sure I didn’t have any leaves pointing anywhere awkward (you know what I mean).
I chose to hand sew most of my flowers on.  I started with my machine, but once I got to where they were really close together, I switched, because I’m sure my machine (which is a monster and only goes moderately fast and super fast- it stalls if I try to sew slowly) would have gone crazy and gotten away from me and sewed everything down flat, when I wanted the same loose, almost ruffly look of the Garnet Hill shirt.  So.  I sewed  by hand.
Then I put it on, realized that my buxomness caused it to look more sparse than it did lying flat, so I took it off, cut, gathered, and applied more fabric flowers.  And then…

(cute potholder turned emergency wallet)

here’s what you’re going to need:(just a few things really)1.  a square potholder (ours are from Target…the Dwell line)2.  a large button3.  about. 6” grosgrain coordinating ribbon4.  10 snack size zip lock baggies5.  tape6.  coordinating embroidery floss7. sewing machinestep 1:  lay your potholder inside up (make sure your pocket is at the top, either on the inside of the wallet or the outside).  place one zip lock on the right side (zipper toward the  right edge) and place a piece of tape on the top and bottom (to keep the baggies from moving).  place another zip lock on the left side overlapping the first (with the zipper toward the left edge) and tape the top and bottom.  continue alternating sides and overlapping the bottoms of all ten baggies (5 on each side).
step 2:  now that the baggies are securely taped in place, sew a zig zag stitch all the way down the middle of the potholder (which should also be down the middle of the overlapped baggies).
step 3:   fold your potholder in half to make your wallet and find your middle to sew on your button.  we used yellow embroidery floss…just to make a statement.
step 4:  using your 6” piece of grosgrain ribbon, fold in half lengthwise and sew all the way down.  (you can use a thinner ribbon or even a hair elastic…this is just what we had on hand).  then, on the backside of your wallet, make a loop with your ribbon large enough to fit over your button and sew down.and…there you have it!
(back)

(front)

We are smitten with Stella McCartney‘s floral ensembles from her Spring 2011 collection, inspired by 18th and 19th century botanical prints. The studies by notable botanists Robert John Thornton and Pierre Joseph Redouté are so incredibly lovely and vibrant that we too were inspired to add a bit of floral flair to our own clothing.

You’ll need:
- an old jacket or blazer (we used a vintage army coat)
- iron on transfers for dark clothing
- botanical images (we used images from Redouté)
- a printer
- a pair of scissors
- an ironFollow the instructions that accompany the iron on transfer papers, as they drastically vary depending on the brand. Search for floral images on the internet and print several large scale images. Precisely cut out the flowers, leaving some leaves and/or stems attached. Arrange and overlap the flowers on your jacket. Iron the transfers to the jacket. To clean, wash your garment inside out in cold water and dry in very low heat or let air dry.

We chose to add flowers to a small portion of this jacket, but feel free to go wild!