“Tropical applique” for a summer crochet T-shirt

Decorations on children's clothing are never superfluous! Such little things attract attention and always please the eyes of others, but most importantly, these bright and positive applications lift the spirits of children. It often happens that such things become mother’s helpers: they hide unwanted stains, places of damage and holes. They especially come in handy in the summer: with such beauty, any T-shirt becomes funny, and juice stains are less noticeable.

Crocheting a palm tree and a crocodile is not difficult at all! It is enough to take the remains of thin threads plus a thin hook (1.8 - 2.0 mm) and you can safely begin. It is also better to keep the T-shirt in sight while knitting.


The sizes of all objects directly depend on the size of the clothing itself. If the T-shirt belongs to a three-year-old child, then a palm tree and a crocodile won’t turn out big.

For applique on clothes of size 30-32, we cast on up to 25 air loops and knit 8 rows with a single crochet.

Then we process the side of the work, knitting a sharp tail in this place (stitches with an increasing/decreasing number of crochets: first a stitch with 1 crochet, then a stitch with 2 crochets, then two stitches with 3 crochets, and again a double crochet, st./s 1 n).

After this we treat the back. With periodic alternation of regular stitches, we knit “scales” of 3 air loops, which we close at the beginning of this element.

Approaching the opposite end of the row (after approximately 4 to 5 knitted arches), we begin to create a massive head. To this end, we rise slightly above the work using double crochets (an increasing chain again) and, having knitted 4-5 loops in this way, we finish the row with single crochets.

The crocodile's head and mouth are ready.

We tie it on the side and bottom with connecting posts, after which we knit the legs outside the head - 4 tbsp./with 1 n. with a common top.

The result was a pretty cute and realistic baby crocodile. All that remains is to embroider an eye on the side and this applique can be considered complete.


The palm tree must also correspond to the given size in order to achieve a harmonious composition overall.
We cast on 7 air loops and knit them with single crochets.

The number of such rows for a small tree is 30-35, with a mandatory decrease in columns towards the end of the trunk.

You will need to knit at least 5-6 voluminous leaves, otherwise the palm tree simply will not be lush.

It is also better to make the sizes different so that the overall picture is natural.
The sheets are knitted entirely in single crochet stitches (this makes them less dense and lighter, more airy in appearance).Chains of air loops (in this example, of 7, 8, 8, 9 and 9 each separately) are tied in a circle with double crochets once, after which they are processed with the same arches of 3 stitches. P.

Now we form a single composition from the leaves, trunk and crocodile and gradually sew all these details onto the wardrobe item.

After finishing the work, the T-shirt looks amazing! We have created a completely new thing that the baby will certainly appreciate.