Reverse Applique Ghost Sweatshirt

Happy Almost Halloween! I felt the urge to sew something for Miss JoJo yesterday and I couldn’t get it out of my mind so I had to make it happen! As you know, she just turned 10 years old and I feel like my days are numbered in regards to how much longer she’ll want to wear mama made clothing or anything super girly like bows. But for now, she loves all things girly-girl!

This isn’t a full tutorial since I didn’t take step-by-step photos but hopefully I can explain it well enough that it makes sense!

Reverse Applique Ghost Sweatshirt

Supplies:

1 sweatshirt

5-6 strips of fabric

1 piece of quilt batting (or fleece)

White fabric marking pen or pencil

Basic sewing supplies

Directions:

Step 1: Sew together your fabric strips. Of course I had to use my Fright Delight fabric collection that I designed for Riley Blake Designs. I used jelly roll strips, but you can also just cut 2.5″ strips of fabric. The amount of strips that you are going to need is dependent on how large you make your ghost. As you can see here, I used 5 strips on this size 10 sweatshirt. Sew them into a rectangle. You don’t need to worry about the shape of the ghost yet.

Step 2: Add some quilting to the sweatshirt. I didn’t have any batting in my studio, but I had a bunch of black fleece so I used that instead of batting (JoJo loves how soft it is inside the sweatshirt!). I quilted the rectangle piece of fabric (that I created with the strips) with basic straight stitches.

Step 3: I used my fabric marking pencil and free hand drew a ghost on the front of the sweatshirt. If you are not comfortable doing that, you can search for the outline of a ghost and trace around it.

Step 4: Place your quilted strips inside the sweatshirt, behind your ghost outline and secure very well with pins. Sew on top of the outline of the ghost as well as the eyes and mouth. You can use matching thread or contrasting. Be careful not to catch the other side of the sweatshirt.

Step 5: So then you are going to take some sharp scissors (I like using applique scissors) and cut out the sweatshirt material inside the ghost body. This will reveal the quilted fabric underneath. DO NOT cut inside the eyes or the mouth. Leave those since we want to be able to see the eyes and mouth.

Final Step: The I added a little bow to the top of the ghost that I stitched using some yarn, but that is completely optional. I was also going to add the text ‘Boo’ next to the ghost, but JoJo liked it just the way it was already. The two bows in her hair I made last Halloween to go with her creepy doll costume.

Cottage Mama’s Tip: I would suggest using fabrics that do not contain much black as we want the eyes and mouth to stand out. Now, if you are using a different colored sweatshirt, for example, orange, then you would want to avoid using orange patterned fabrics.

Also, consider using this technique with other holiday motifs such as a pumpkin, witch hat, cat, spider, etc. Or even for another holiday. How cute would it be to do a Christmas stocking, wreath, Christmas tree, Easter bunny, shamrock? The options are endless!

I hope you all have the most wonderful Halloween! And until next time……..