Applique t shirt

My girls have had lots of clothes from Boden some purchased by myself and many hand me down's (oh how I love a hand me down). One thing they do very well is applique. With this in mind I decided to make a top for a friends little boy's first birthday. They live the Good Life in Spain so I opted for a donkey design (they have 3 now, I think).
I followed the instructions from this blog and the instructions on the back of the iron on adhesive.
After drawing out the donkey design on tracing paper (although I couldn't see why it needed to be on tracing paper?) I copied it on to the adhesive then ironed it onto the fabric to be appliqued & cut out the donkey shape. Lastly peeled off the backing and pressed it to the T shirt.

Next came the tricky bit, well it was tricky for me.  I set my machine to a zig zag stitch and shortened the length.  This was the result.....

Pretty rubbish isn't it? Even allowing for the "Good Life" factor (rough round the edges) I think the little man wouldn't cut the mustard down on the farm. So I unpicked this and went for the easier Plan B.

Not quite the same finish but still a T shirt with a donkey on - my original plan!