In Training for Grandma of the Year!

Not really, just trying to put Train into a title somehow.

I made these two cute little sweatshirts and hat for two of my grandsons.

This one is for the 7-year old.
He was six when I started, so I was afraid  it would be babyish to him now,
but his mom said he loves it and wears it, so I guess I got it done just in time.

Applique hints:  
Print the pattern onto the unwaxed side of a piece of freezer paper.  You can do this if you cut the paper to the same size as your printer paper.  Iron it to the fabric you are using for the design.  Cut all the pieces and then just peel off the paper.  Works like a charm! All your sizes and lines will come out perfectly with no pattern slippage if you cut carefully.

Baste the edges of the first piece onto a  piece of very stiff fusible iron-on interfacing. Keep the "glue" side facing out.  Then applique each piece on, (You can use the Neat Trick I Discovered --below--to attach it before stitching it) basting at the edges where it will be attached to the shirt itself.  It's much easier to work with all the twisting and turning on a small piece.

Next step: Trim the interfacing to match the design, and iron the design onto the shirt.  Now it is placed exactly where you want it and won't slip, slide, and bunch. My interfacing is old, and I didn't have the iron really hot because I didn't want to scorch/melt the sweatshirt, so...

Neat Trick I Discovered:  Where it didn't stick, I rubbed it with glue stick and ironed it.  That stuck firmly.  I don't know if it would last through a wash, but it doesn't matter, since I was going to sew all the edges anyway.

Three:  Applique all the edges. Voila!  Cute and fun, and the whole project didn't take long. See, what took the year was getting around to it, not making it!

The hat that started the whole train thing.  I had a lot of trouble with adding in the new colors and I am not entirely happy with it.  I think I need to take a class on that.  However, Daddy says the kid wore it all day when he got it.  Good enough for Grammy!

The recipient of this one is my sweet little 5-year old CP grandson.  

The entire design is a knitted piece, ironed onto fusible interfacing to keep it as straight as possible, then sewn on.  I didn't worry about applique on this one, since it's a finished knit piece.  I just sewed it with a zig-zag, which pretty well hides in the knitted pattern.

Materials:  Yarn in different colors.  If you've got a yarn stash it's practically free. I didn't, so I had to buy the yarn.   Scraps of fabrics in different colors.

Sweatshirts, on sale at Walmart last year for a dollar apiece.

Cost to ship....yeah, there's the rub!  Still, about $14 for two cute shirts and a hat...arriving on the doorstep as a surprise, that's fun.

I addressed the box to the boys. I thought it would be fun for them to get mail in their own name.

Pattern

I just realized I was going to make a line between the wheels, and forgot to change thread and do that.  Oh well. It's still cute, but if you look at the pattern, a line would have been cute there.  C'est la vie!