![Dr. Seuss / Cat in the Hat applique on a teeshirt.](https://diydanielle.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/diy-dr-seuss-shirt-7-of-9-700x523.jpg.webp)
How to make a DIY Dr. Seuss shirt for a kid’s Seuss themed birthday party or for a school event.
I had a bunch of 18 month onesies that I considered using, but I’ve had pretty poor luck with the brand (Gerber I think) because they’re thinner, super stretchy, and my embroidery machine likes to eat them. It could be user error or the type of stabilizer that I used, but my friend mentioned also having a similar problem with certain types of onesies. I imagine they’re great shirts for other crafty purposes, such as tie-dye, but I’ll save them to worry over another day.
In the meantime, I bought this 3-pack of teeshirts off Amazon.com in hopes they’d be easier to work with.
I used stripped cotton fabric for the applique. The applique design was something I purchased on Etsy and that was compatible with my embroidery machine. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s available anymore.
Not going to give a full tutorial on the applique because I’m still not confident I’m doing it right, but here’s some pictures of my process. I think you could easily sketch out a number on a shirt, then use a sewing machine to replicate the process. You would just use a zig zag stitch.
The main thing is that you need a good stabilizer (and the correct stabilizer) under your applique. Mine would be under the shirt. The embroidery machine stitches out the “1.”
![Embroidering a 1 onto a shirt.](https://diydanielle.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/diy-dr-seuss-shirt-1-of-9-700x523.jpg.webp)
Then I add my applique fabric on top of the 1. It starts to stitch the one over the fabric.
![Adding fabric and embroidering a one over it.](https://diydanielle.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/diy-dr-seuss-shirt-3-of-9-700x523.jpg.webp)
Once this is done, I can cut away my excess fabric.
![Excess fabric cut away.](https://diydanielle.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/diy-dr-seuss-shirt-5-of-9-700x523.jpg.webp)
I still need to put it back in the machine though to add the extra details like the Cat in the Hat Hat.
![Put the shirt back into the embroidery machine to finish the Dr. Seuss design.](https://diydanielle.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/diy-dr-seuss-shirt-6-of-9-700x523.jpg.webp)
Posts and projects that are Dr. Seuss or Cat in the Hat themed: Dr. Seuss Birthday Party | Dr. Seuss Romper | DIY Dr. Seuss Shirt | Cat in the Hat Hat DIY | Dr. Seuss Pants DIY | Fabric Birthday Banner in Red and White
This is the finished product. It matches perfectly with the pants that I made to go with the outfit.
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![Embroidered/Applique Cat in the Hat shirt for my son's 1st birthday. I also made matching pants.](https://diydanielle.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/diy-dr-seuss-shirt-8-of-9.jpg.webp)