Reverse Applique Turkey Shirts

I like to have fun holiday outfits for the kiddos. Besides loving to create fun and simple projects, I also really like seeing my little guys decked out in coordinating shirts.  It looks adorable in photos!  This year Luke, Lila, and Tate will wear these reverse applique handprint turkey shirts made from their own little hand tracings.  These shirts are the perfect way to use up fabric scraps and any colors will look perfectly cute for Thanksgiving Day!

To make these reverse applique turkey shirts, I used cheap shirts from Walmart and gathered up some fabric scraps from my stash.  I opted for fall colors but anything would work.  I love the trend of using bright, non-traditional colors for holiday crafting.

I sewed a patch of fabric to the inside of the front of the shirt then traced each child’s hand {with a washable tracing marker} onto the front of the shirt.  With my sewing machine, I stitched over the traced line then used fabric scissors to trim the shirt along the inside of the stitched line, leaving about a quarter of an inch on the inside of the stitched line.  Once the shirt is cut away, it reveals the fabric underneath.  Be careful not to clip through the patterned fabric or through the stitch lines.

Stitch a small piece of folded red ribbon on for a turkey wattle, attach a small button for an eye, and hand stitch a beak and legs with embroidery thread.

These turkey shirts are so cute and they’re a fun way to capture a child’s small handprint on a special day!

For more handmade turkey shirt ideas, be sure to pop over to check out these painted handprint turkey shirts …

… hand stitched give thanks shirts …

… little turkey shirts that are perfect for your little turkey …

… and a ruffled lace turkey shirt that’s adorable for a little girl!