The White Tree

I am re-reading the Lord of the Rings...again. And watching the movies with my children (first time for them). This is my wearable ode to Gondor.


It is made from two old t-shirts that had seen better days

-I used a bandanna folded in half on the diagonal as a pattern for the background material, the blue is just slightly smaller.

-the white t-shirt is cut with the hem still attatched and folded over to make the front edge

-stitch the two pieces of fabric together along the edges.

-The tree I drew freehand on a piece of pennant felt, then cut out to make a stencil. Cutting the pennant felt takes very sharp scissors and a lot of patience. This was the hardest part of the project.

-I used the stencil and silver fabric paint to paint the tree on the blue fabric, stitch around the outline and cut out the tree about 1/8" inside the stitch line.

-The spirals are all freehand. to make the fabric spirals cut out a circle, then cut from the edge to the middle in a spiral pattern, the jersey stretches out to make an open spiral. They are appliqued on using a straight stitch. The design on the left is three small spirals sewn together to meet at the center.

-the bead spirals are freehand, in retrospect I would draw the spiral then sew the beads over it but I couldn't find my disappearing ink fabric pen.

-the center medallion is two small circles of fabric and an old barrette.


This was a 2/3 trilogy project, including making the stencil, cutting the fabric, and sewing by hand. I'll wear it when we get to Gondor tomorrow, finishing up the movie weekend with the Return of the King.

I make these often, they are easy, endlessly adaptable, sometimes I use stencils that I buy, sometimes stencils that I make. They are close to instant gratification as you can get with hand sewing, and a great way to learn. My daughter is working on one (her first sewing project), made from two shirts that she has outgrown but still loves.

I have to acknowledge the Alabama Stitch Book by Natalie Chanin, all I learned about hand sewing I learned there.