I'm super excited to share a project we've been working on!
At shows we get asked about the possibility of putting Squshies on all kinds of things like hats, bags, and t-shirts. These are all things we would love see to Squshies on, but not feasible for us to make ourselves.
For the last year and half we've been experimenting with felt patches/appliques with the hopes that we can provide the Squshies and you can take your favorite Squshie patch and make the perfect hat/bag/t-shirt/ for you!
We started this project with a felt iron on of our old unicorn design and added it to a t-shirt. It worked, but after about 5-7 washes the more pointy bits started to peel up, like the tips of the hooves and mane. Once the peeling started, the rest of the patch was quick to follow. We had a feeling sewing the patch would work, but sewing around every bit of the unicorn's silhouette was rather complicated.
We revisited the idea with our new outlined designs, which have less pointy bits and provide a much simpler shape to sew around. We took our narwhal and ironed it on to a t-shirt and then hand stitched around the white outline for extra security. This test was more what we were looking for! All the photos of the narwhal shirt I took today for this newsletter. This narwhal appliqued t-shirt has been through the wash 20 times! Let's take a closer look at how it's holding up =)
If you get up close you can see the most pointy bits, like the tip of the fins have separated from the fusible web.
Using stitches, in conjunction with the iron on fusible web, has prevented the peeling from being extensive and the applique is still very secure.
Other areas of the patch are just starting to show a bit of separation of the fusible web from the felt, but once again the stitches are preventing the patch from peeling up further.
After so many washes the felt is a bit pilly, but so is the overall t-shirt.
Since we were happy with our test we sent a few appliques out to #squshiefriends to be tested!
Above you can see the results of 3 of the tests we sent out!
Our friend Corri used her appliques to made some towels super cute! I never would have thought to add the patches to towels, but I love the idea! She has put them through the wash a few times and said they're holding up well.
Our friend Chrstina added her applique to a hat! Didn't it turn out just adorable?
No promises, but I'm hoping to have to have some appliques available in time for the Jackalope Art Fair at the end of April in Pasadena.
So what do think of the Squshie felt patches?
This blog post was from our February, 23rd newsletter! Our newsletter is the best source for finding out all our newest news. Sign up at join.squshies.net to be sure to get the latest updates on this project!