Tuxedo T-Shirt Tutorial

When casual meets formal...

 There is no doubt that convincing a toddler to wear a tuxedo (PLUS keep it clean!) could be a real chore!  As this summer approaches, we are anticipating TWO weddings within a short 6 weeks.  My husband's 2 younger brothers both became engaged this winter and both will marry this summer.  Although we plan to have Little Man dressed in style for the weddings, I think that we have the perfect outfit in mind for other wedding events!

This project has been a long time in coming.  The idea for a tuxedo shirt has been brewing for a while.  Kind of a spin-off of the adorable tie oneises all over blogging land a year or two ago.  My only problem was that Google Images failed to provide me with a suitable tuxedo silhouette that I could use as my template!  With this challenge in mind, I decided to embark on a Photoshop journey to create my very own tuxedo design!

 

 I started out with a plain old white t-shirt from my favorite store, Hobby Lobby!  I washed it first before getting started. 

 

The hardest part about the entire project was creating my tuxedo shirt silhouette!  I created this design from scratch.  I am still a Photoshop novice, so this was a small triumph for me.

I used my Sure Cuts a Lot software to get the size of the tuxedo silhouette just right.  Also, when using heat transfer vinyl, you actually create a mirror image of your original before cutting.  I connected my computer to my Cricut and cut away...

I cut my image out of black flocked vinyl. (The same kind I used for my Mr. Lucky shirt.) I love that it has a velvety fuzziness to it.

Next, I followed the directions to iron on the heat transfer vinyl to the t-shirt.  You need a regular old piece of paper to sandwich between the iron and vinyl to keep the plastic layer from melting.

 

 After it cooled completely, I peeled off the clear plastic layer leaving behind the vinyl.  This part is always so magical to me!

 The only thing missing now, of course, was a little bow tie....

 

Second only to my love for vinyl is felt, of course! I used a bow template to cut a bow tie out of red felt and ironed it on using Wonder Under.  Piece of cake!  To feel completely secure, you could sew all the way around the bow tie just to be sure you can wash it over and over.

Now I just had to convince Little Man that suspenders were totally cool (which only took a few minutes!), and we have one.cute.outfit!

 

  

I do have a baby version in the works, and it is adorable!!

Enjoy your day, my friends!