No-Cost Thanksgiving Upcycled Appliquéd Onesie

Whenever I see an adorable holiday-themed shirt, I first think of how cute it is, then think of how limited the wear will be. Yes, I'm just too practical (or cheap) to spend a lot on something my little ones will wear briefly.

With that in mind, I decided to upcycle and make my own Thanksgiving clothes for the babies. 

I spent absolutely no money on this—using only materials I had on-hand. When I needed different embellishment pieces, I went to my scrap box, or looked through outgrown clothes. This is the beauty of upcycling!

For my baby girl's onesie, I created it before I started this blog and do not have good pictures of the process, but will try to explain it. I am the farthest thing from a skilled seamstress and there are lots of crooked stitches here, but each piece is hand sewn. This was my first attempt at an appliqué, also. A sewing machine is on my wish list for Christmas (hint, hint, husband) but for now, it's the needle and thread for me. 

I found a onesie that had belonged to my 2-year old son. I thought the colors were quite fall-like. 

I also found a polo shirt of my husband's that he had placed in our "donate" box. It is a nice burgundy shade with tan stripes and I thought it would work nicely.

I cut out a shape much like an "8" for the body from the polo shirt. I then sewed it on to the onesie. I used an overcast stitch for this. 

I then used this tutorial to create the turkey's "feathers". It's an adorable ruffles fabric flower. I did modify it a bit, by cutting a series of curves on the top of my strip after placing the running stitch in.  Here's a random strip of fabric to show you what I did. Random, uneven curves will yield great results for this project, thankfully. 

It came out great!

I sewed it next to my body shape, taking care to sew inside the ruffles so my stitches would not show (although a stray stitch does still show because I was herding a feisty 2 year-old at the time and rushing). Now you can see where I'm going with this design.

Next, I heat-sealed a bit of gold ribbon for the beak so it would not fray. To do this, simply use a lighter, and pass the ribbon end near the flame until the end curls a bit. (Be careful!) I then sewed it on. Next, I cut a small piece of yarn I had and made a small loop for the wattle. I sewed it in place as well. 

I then had this little cutie:

I liked it, but felt it was missing something, so I heat-sealed a small piece of gold ribbon, and just tied a knot to create a bow, and sewed it on as well. Much better!

I think it came out great!

I made a matching headband for her, also, but that's a post for another day. 

Stay tuned for my son's Thanksgiving shirt tutorial. I can't decide which I like better!