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I always have fun sewing my kids coordinating Halloween shirts, which they wear the heck out of all Fall, and this year I made them some scrappy upcycled raglans! I’m sharing the free bat applique pattern & tutorial so you can make some too. Check out last year’s upcycled raglans, I miss that fabric.

There is something SO satisfying about taking a big stack of stained old t-shirts and turning them into cute kid’s clothes; if you’ve never done it before, I have a full tutorial here for how to upcycle the base shirt from a free pattern. 

I ended up making two sizes for this fun little creature; above you can see the smaller bat applique.

And here is the bigger bat applique! These are pretty small pieces, but if you go slowly I think it is a relatively easy applique design. I have all my best beginner tips for machine applique in this post, and then the full tutorial below!

Pin this free bat applique pattern for later, using this link and photo:

Free bat applique pattern

Supplies

• Printer or pen
• Sharp scissors (micro-tips are great for more detailed patterns like this)
• Fusible transfer product like Heat N Bond or Wonder Under. I love the printable heat n bond sheets so you don’t have to trace anything!
• Iron
• Sewing machine
• Coordinating thread
• Bat pattern pdf– sign up for my newsletter and get the full pattern once you confirm your subscription! If you’re already a subscriber, you can access the pattern with the password in each newsletter, in the resource library.

Steps

Step 1– If you aren’t printing on to a transfer sheet, trace it with the bumpy side down.

Step 2– Cut roughly around each shape.

Step 3– Iron the pieces down on the wrong side of the fabric, following product instructions, let cool. Cut out carefully along the lines.

Step 4-Peel off the paper backing.

Step 5– Use your iron and adhere according to package instructions, sticky side down. Let cool.

Step 6– Stitch closely around the edges.

Step 7– Continue to layer; for this design it goes base body, wing bones, middle body, and eyes. I experimented with a few ways of sewing the small eyeballs on; I ended up liking the X design over top, but you can also stitch a slow circle around the inside or use this version of Heat N Bond that will stay permanently without sewing.

And you’re done! Put bats on everything!

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