gifts for guys tutorial- the boyscout patch shirt

You know how boy scouts have vests filled with patches? This is like the grown up version of that... a t-shirt with a grid of patches that match my hot husband's varied interests. It's a twist on Jess's freezer paper stenciling idea...Want to make one too?

First cut 4" squares from scraps of white jersey/old t-shirts. I made a 4" square of cardstock to serve as a template, laid it on the fabric and cut around it. You can make whatever sized grid you want (I made mine 2x4, so I cut out eight white jersey squares).

Stitch the square 'patches' together in rows with the hems sticking out instead of tucked in (the jersey doesn't fray and the raised hem gives the grid it's 'lines.' Then sew the rows together, again with the edges exposed.

Freezer paper stencil symbols of your guy's interests on scraps of colored jersey using the method Jess outlined. I chose a basketball, an outline of texas, a skier, a tooth, a tent, a fishing pole, a scooter and a mountain and printed them onto green, red, navy and white pieces of jersey. You could also embroider all of the symbols onto the squares as a variation on this theme.

Sew each of the colored jersey 'patches' onto a white square on the grid you made (use colored thread to match the jersey).

Pin and sew the whole grid to a supersoft t-shirt (I found this one at Target for $2.00 recently[!?!?!]... they might still have them in your clearance section).

Done and ready to be wrapped up for Christmas (or any gift-giving occasion you have coming up)! And, just in case you're wondering, this is my handmade gift for the week... I should take a picture to show y'all the PILE of dresses from week 2 as well!

Don't forget to enter the Gifts for Guys Giveaways (just scroll down to see them... each giveaway has its own post)! There is all sorts of t-shirt goodness, as well as a reusable coffee cozy and a customized beer mug! And more fun stuff will be up tomorrow!