DIY Shirt Shoulder Applique

Sew appliques to the shoulder of shirts for an embellished detail.

Adding embellishments to the shoulder of garments is a DIY trick-of-the-trade to jazzing a basic shirt. A quick change that uses basic sewing skills, you can use shoulder appliques to add a pop of color or some glitz to dress up a plain shirt. You can find ready-made embroidered, beaded or sequined appliques at any craft or fabric store. Sew them onto the shoulder of your shirt using straight stitches.

Things You'll Need

• Applique
• Pins
• Garment
• Needle
• Thread
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Place the applique onto the shoulder of the garment. Pin the applique into desired shoulder location.

2. Thread the needle. Cut the desired length of thread. Knot the ends of the thread.

3. Thread the needle up through the garment fabric and applique, working from the inside, outward. Straight stitch along the inner perimeter of the applique.

4. Thread the down through the applique and garment fabric, ending on the inside of the garment. Knot the thread. Trim the thread end using the scissors.

Tips & Warnings

• You can sew appliques to shirts with and without shoulder seams.

• Make invisible stitches from the underside of the shirt by threading the needle through the bottom half of the applique fibers instead of up through the entire layer of applique.

• Substitute a sewing machine instead of hand-stitching to secure the outter edges of the applique. Match your thread to the color of the shirt or use invisible thread in your sewing machine.