Ok, this requires a bit of a story. For Annaliese's birthday she got to go to Build-A-Bear for the first time, and made April the Panda, dressed in a ballerina outfit. In June we made a return trip for a new outfit, beach gear. Recently she said she wanted to go back and get regular clothes. We decided to take Annaliese on a surprise trip to Build-A-Bear before school starts. Now, once we got inside she started to get distracted by the Disney Princess costumes, the pajamas and robes... but I was on a mission to find a "regular" outfit. Sadly she is already at the point that if I suggest something she immediately comes up with reasons NOT to do it, so I had to find something "perfect" that I could convince her to choose. When I saw this shirt:
![](//1.bp.blogspot.com/_lOH98fVuZZI/SpCfTi2E3iI/AAAAAAAAFjk/8-y36sBNZS4/s400/HavingHootBAB.jpg)
I knew it was the one. Cute because it was pink and purple, and it would be a great back-to-school outfit for April because it has an owl on it (Annaliese's school mascot). I also enthusiastically told her I already had a purple shirt and a new owl design so I could make her a matching shirt. That cinched it! We got the shirt, a matching pink corduroy skirt, back pack and tennis shoes.
We get home, I grab Annaliese's shirt (which is actually lavender) and head to my computer to show her the owl design. It doesn't actually match as well as I remembered. Annaliese and I tried to figure out how to incorporate the stripes at the bottom. I came up with a solution and she was satisfied...
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... but I wasn't. I decided to go all out and try to match it as exactly as I could by digitizing my own applique owl! I did it all myself! (Except for the feet -- I realized this morning that I forgot to do those and knew Annaliese would point out they were missing, so I borrowed them from another owl design.) I finished digitizing it last night, and this morning I bought a new shirt that was a closer match than the lavender one.
Are you still with me? Ready to see???
![](//3.bp.blogspot.com/_lOH98fVuZZI/SpCfTxvthpI/AAAAAAAAFjs/f4prb3fFxvE/s400/HavingHoot.jpg)
This is the most complicated applique design I've digitized so far, and overall I'm pretty pleased. On this shirt I'm most disappointed with the lettering... I don't know why the text at the top didn't turn out as nicely as usual. Oh well. I used Embird Alphabets #38 and #8.
![](//3.bp.blogspot.com/_lOH98fVuZZI/SpCfUMx0vuI/AAAAAAAAFj0/5vvoIORDU_k/s400/HavingHoot2.jpg)
Annaliese was excited to see the final product. She didn't know I had worked on a different owl design that matched exactly. She's all set to wear this on the second day of school, but was willing to try it on quickly so I could take a picture and blog. How accommodating. :)
Side note:
April's Having a Hoot Shirt: $6
Annaliese's Having a Hoot Shirt: $3.50 + lots of labor :)
April's pink skirt: $6
Annaliese's pink skirt: under $3 on clearance last year.
April's tennis shoes: $8
Annaliese's tennis shoes (after BOGO at Payless) $7.50
Hmmmmm... does that seem right to you??
Annaliese's backpack did cost more. Her's was $10, April's was only $5. :)