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!

Are you looking for a great, personalized gift idea for this Father’s Day? When my husband hinted at wanting some updated photo magnets for his work, I thought this was a fantastic idea (the last ones I made have baby pictures of our six-year-old!). This time I opted for an upgrade from the cardstock photo magnets I made before. These new magnets have pictures transferred onto wooden circles, and they look like the photos were originally printed onto the wood! If you haven’t seen this technique before, you’re in for an absolute treat.

In this tutorial, I walk you through step-by-step through printing, cutting, and putting the wooden circle magnets together. I have linked resources for everything so even beginner crafters should be able to put these together with ease. If you have a Cricut machine, I have special instructions to make cutting these out a breeze, but I’ve also got you covered if you don’t. I was able to include my boys in crafting the magnets (as it should be considering it’s for Father’s Day!) and even my three-year-old did a fantastic job. Are you ready? Let’s go!