Hydrangea & Poppy Flag Tee

This tee started on a rainy Sunday in June with a plain white cotton blank, a length of antique cotton lace saved for something worth saving it for, a scrap of hydrangea-blue linen from an old pillow cover, and a single poppy-red star cut from a vintage bandana.

Every flag is cut freehand and appliquéd by hand, which is why the stripes never sit at quite the same angle twice. Nothing is printed and nothing is fused — four hours of hand-stitching goes into each one.

The palette is deliberately soft — hydrangea blue instead of navy, cream lace instead of bright white, one small red accent — so it plays quietly with everything already hanging in a coastal closet.