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Every June and November I make the same chocolate cake for my friend’s and her son’s birthdays. Why would someone want the same cake every year for their birthday? Because it’s darn good. Sooo good, guys. If you make this cake, everyone will be begging you for the recipe and swooning over the incredible taste in their mouth. If you like chocolate at all, you need this chocolate cake recipe! And the best part? The bulk of the cake is made from a cake mix. You really can’t get better than this!

And because there’s really no messing with cake flavor perfection, the only way to really change up this cake is by changing what it looks like. Over the years it’s been disguised as a soccer ball, as R2-D2 cupcakes, and most recently as a dino cake. I bet this cake would look excellent disguised as dragon fire as well.

Welcome to my stop on the Changing up the Tee Blog Tour! If you missed the intro post, check it out here. Today I am sharing a color-blocked Lightning McQueen version of GYCT’s Primary Tee & Dress pattern. Thank you to GYCT Designs for sponsoring this tour! You can get $2 off the pattern by using code SEWBLUE until July 15. Plus, read until the end of the post to enter the $30 giveaway to her shop.

I was made for speed. My home is Radiator Springs. I am Lightning McQueen.

Hello, hello friend! Did you catch the first post of the Ultimate Guide to Personalizing a T-Shirt at Home series? We’re going over every possible way to customize a t-shirt, non-sewing and sewing. In connection with this series, we have another Sewing Blue blog tour starting up on Monday: Changing Up the Tee. We are lucky to have this post sponsored by GYCT Patterns.

This tour features 15 t-shirts sewn from GYCT’s Primary Tee & Dress Pattern. Even though they are sewn from the same pattern, each shirt will be completely unique. Every sewist has been encouraged to take complete creativity in making the pattern their own – color blocking, HTV, adding pockets, you name it. I can’t wait to see the different directions that everyone took on this challenge!

In connection with the tour, GYCT is giving away a $30 credit to her shop! Make sure to fill out the giveaway at the end of this post to enter. In addition, you can receive $2 off the Primary Tee & Dress Pattern by using code SEWBLUE between July 2 (when the tour officially begins) and July 15.

With three boys, I’ll admit I do get jealous of all the cute dresses and frilly things I see other moms making their girls. I just can’t do that for my boys! They wear t-shirts day-in and day-out, so that’s usually what I make them. Tees are fun, but it can get monotonous following the same design format every time. There are so many ways to personalize a tee. Sometimes it just takes a kick in the pants to change it up, so here’s that kick for you (and me)! Whether you are coming here to learn how to add a design to an existing shirt, or need some t-shirt sewing inspiration, I bring you: the ultimate guide to personalizing a t-shirt at home.

I initially planned to make this all one post, but the truth is there’s a lot of ways to customize a tee! So I’m breaking it up into four posts that I’ll be sharing over the next couple of weeks: this one (Dyeing); Adding a Design; Color Blocking, Necklines, & Sleeves; and Adding Special Touches. So if you aren’t into sewing, I have plenty of no-sew methods for personalizing a plain tee you can buy at the store. Or if you want to really customize a t shirt, you can color block, change the shape, add pockets, etc. Keep checking back to make sure to catch the whole series.

For added inspiration, stay tuned for the Changing Up the Tee blog tour, kicking off on Friday. It will feature 15 sewists who are exploring how to personalize a t-shirt for boys. Sign up for the newsletter so you don’t miss it!

Enough chit chat. Let’s dye some tees!