So there has been a contest going on over on the Patterns for Pirates Facebook page and I am just a teensy bit obsessed with the patterns…and I <3 Pinterest, so….I had to get one last entry in.

This past weekend I was cleaning out and organizing my sewing room….not sure how I ended up with my own sewing room, but here it is, sitting right there in the back of my house. While I was cleaning, I found this skull applique I ordered a while back.

It is beautiful. I am really just not a big skull person, though. Like, nothing else I own has a skull on it…not anywhere in my house…not on any of mine nor my kids clothing. They are beautiful, but until the idea for this top came in to my head, they were really not for me.

So, you know, I had to make the skull fit with me…fit my style. Wait…I have a style? Well..I guess I have a style now. Mostly my “style” is polka dots…I just really love them. I’ve tried to convince my husband to let me paint them on our bedroom walls but I have not come across the right bait yet.

So this top is a blend between sweet polka dots and dark and sassy skulls. (are skulls really sassy? Can you imagine a skeleton getting an attitude with you?) This was also a new technique and I am pretty sure I held my breath the ENTIRE time I was stitching the skull to the shirt. It was pretty terrifying!

Since I had just ONE applique, there was no screwing up. Great set-up huh? No pressure or anything…Hey self…this is your first time doing something…don’t screw it up! Miracle of Miracles, I managed not to fudge it up too badly.

Of course, there was more to do…more potential to royally screw this shirt up. I still had to remove the fabric under the applique…with REALLY. SHARP. SCISSORS!!!

It took a while and I used my fingers to guide between the applique and the fabric so I didn’t go and chop the skull in half. It was the last step…just get through this one thing…you can do it. There were internal pep talks going on the entire time.

Thirty gajillion tiny snips with my Gingher’s later and I was FINISHED. I could breathe again. PHEW!

I wish the skull were a tad bigger for more drama, but I feel like I just finished a marathon….you know…that moment when you are just happy you actually finished. Now I need to order another skull so I can make a matching one for my little sweet pea. 🙂