Monag Brand Blanket

I  have decided that going forward when I do blankets I'd like to focus on baby blankets and use a ready made blank rather than sewing them myself.  I don't mind an occasional request from family or friends and really nothing quite beats minky but from a business perspective they take more time than I really have to give.  So, around Black Friday I had ordered a few blanks (Monag Interlock) from my trusty source Studio MCA Designs and when the invitation came to attend a baby shower at work recently I took advantage of the opportunity to experiment with them.  The verdict?  These stitch out beautifully and are very good quality.  I definitely plan to work with these as much as possible in the future.  And, I am IN LOVE with Hang To Dry Applique Designs' Steinweiss Script Font!!  I got several compliments on it and am looking forward to more projects that it will be appropriate for!

School of T&E: Toddler Christmas Top

A friend asked me to make a Christmas top for her daughter, Ariella.  She gave me complete creative license which I loved.   I scoured my favorite websites for Christmas designs but the moment I saw Studio MCA Designs Jingle Jungle Alpha applique and font I knew that was what would go on Ariella's shirt.  Just like Olivia, Ariella is a sweet little monkey and I knew this would be perfect for her!  Plus, with this design I knew she would get more use from it than just Christmas day and I think that is really important personally as a mom.

My first task was to find the right fabric for the A.  I knew just what I wanted but by the time I actually found it online I was terrified it would not ship in time.  I decided to put an APB out on my beloved Applique Forum and a sweet member came to my rescue.  I just cannot say enough good things about Applique Forum - I ♥ it!  I've never been involved in a forum of such generous folks!

This was a pretty big project for me in that there were several fabric changes and thread colors and then additionally it was my first shirt with my new machine and my first time merging a name and design into a 5x7 hoop with Sew What Pro which I am still learning.  Also, once I had completed the work I decided the monkey needed a bow so she could be more girly and that is was my first time adding a bow.  I need A LOT more practice with bows (and need to find some premade bows!!) but overall, I was very pleased with the final product.  And, I am happy to report that my friend's daughter "squealed" when she saw it!  That is my favorite part of this new 'hobby' - hearing that the recipient is happy!

School of T&E: Toddler Car Blanket

The Director at Olivia's daycare asked me to make her daughter, Megan, a blanket for the car similar to the lap blanket I made for Olivia.  I decide to use Minky like I did before but instead of fleece to use a cuddle fabric (not sure what its official name is).  All I am going to say is that these two fabrics together cause more lint than I've ever seen in my entire life of lint all added together!!  I learned a few really good lessons with this project:

1.  Use your Walking Foot!!

2.  Do not put the wrong applique on these fabrics and have to rip the seams to get rid of it - it will take you forever and the amount of lint such an error produces is unfathomable!

Below is a picture that show both sides so you can see the fabrics used.  This applique is Planet Applique's Sweetheart Alpha and the font is Boyz R Gross by 8 Claws & a Paw.

A

Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift Exchange: An Experiment in Towels

I participated in Craftaholics Anonymous Handmade Gift Exchange in November.  I was lucky to be paired with a fabulous quilter named Kelly who blogs at Live.Love.Create.  She created this fabulous quilted wall hanging for me and quite honestly, just looking at it makes me want to learn to quilt!

She also sent a sweet homemade Santa Claus card and some scrapbook supplies as well!  

Thank you again Kelly!!

For Kelly, I decided to do a set of seasonal kitchen towels with appliques/embroidery.  I really had a few additional holidays in mind but simply ran out of time.  Here are the ones I did displayed together.

I think the cupcake (general use for birthdays or other celebrations) was my favorite.

It's a tad confusing to look at initially but I just couldn't resist using this filled embroidery design for the Halloween towel since Kelly has twin boys!

And, what would a gift exchange be without putting a little of yourself into it?  Kelly lives in a different part of the country from me so I had to share some Southern hospitality with the Fall towel.

Thank you Linda for the awesome opportunity to share our handmade craftiness with others!!!

Another Turkey Top

Finally got around to getting a shirt done for my sweet girl - just in time!  This design from Planet Applique went relatively well except that the personalization was a tad too close to the turkey.  I had a hard time getting a decent photo of the entire shirt so I finally gave up and decided to just post the applique area itself.  Gobble Gobble!!

Guinea Pig #1 for Learning to Applique/Embroider Baby Items

One of the things I am most interested in is creating cute things for babies!!  In an effort to learn to do lots of different things I have a special group of pregnant mamas I am making gifts for over the next 6 months or so.  I tend to refer to them as my guinea pigs!

The first mama up actually went into labor about 3 weeks early.  I went into a frenzy to get my planned items completed for her once I knew she was in labor because I had really wanted her to have them before the baby's arrival.  The night I worked on these I cut my finger with a rotary cutter and bled like a stuck pig for a good 15 minutes.  The whole time I took care not to get a drop of blood on her special things - which was rather difficult considering they were all WHITE!  As it so turns out her sweet little boy is having a little stay in the NICU so it will be a while before he gets to wear any of this but at least I know when he does he'll have a few little items from me!

New things I experienced with this set of gifts include

• first applique on bib
• first kimono wrap top
• used new technique for backing a burp cloth with fabric
• first time combining designs to make my own design (personalized patch)

This mama uses Dr. Seuss characters in her nursery.  I had hoped to have time to order some special fabric for her but there was no time for that.  The best I could do in the way of Seuss-ness was this bib with the Thing 2 patch on it - fitting since this is her 2nd baby!

I also had been wanting to try out these kimono wrap tops.  I thought they would be easier to work with than a onesie but I'm really not so sure about that now.  The hoop edge gets a little too close for my comfort to the curved edge of the wrap.  At any rate, this one is kind of funny.  The patch is hysterically large on this tiny top but it really did stitch out nicely.  The "r" is from minky.  Prior to stitching this design I had just bemoaned my 4x4 hoop but this design on this top made me appreciate how big 4x4 could really be!

And, lastly, what mom can't use another cute burp cloth?  

My Future Business: Logo and Packaging Supplies

In planning for my future business one of the first things I did was have a logo designed.   Really, Shannon?  Who has a logo when they don't even have a business?  That's crazy talk, right?  No, actually I don't think it's crazy at all!

Having a logo reminds me constantly of what I am striving for and also helps me to think professionally about what I'm doing even though I'm such a newbie.  Through the wonderful and often spoke of Applique Forum I came in contact with Marie, owner of autumns creek designs .  As a sponsor she offered a discount to Applique Forum members on logo designs and since I already had a name and design in mind I was able to purchase a very affordable package from her.

Here is my logo which I adore

The other thing I just did recently was order some packaging supplies from Melissa at Studio MCA Designs.  I still am in the process of getting hang tags created to tie to my packages when I mail them out but here is an example of a recent mailing with Melissa's resealable bags and Divine Twine

School of T&E: Applique Cafe Raggy Turkey

Because I have a girl I do not get much opportunity to do cutesy stuff for boys.  I also have never appliqued a onesie since Olivia rarely wears them anymore so when I had the opportunity to buy some boy colors onesie blanks from a destash I immediately thought of my online BFF who has an almost 3 month old boy.  I looked at the MANY turkeys available and decided to go with Applique Cafe's Raggy Turkey merged with the Whoa Nelly font by 8 Claw and a Paw Embroidery.

This project brought with it many firsts so the School of Trial & Error was, of course, in session!

• first raggy design 
• first boy outfit
• first time figuring out how to hoop a onesie
• first time using my new software, Sew What Pro, to merge a name with a design

Working with a onesie was hands down the most frustrating aspect of this project but now that I know what to do and what not to do I think it will be just get easier each time.  Fortunately, I was able to turn to my trusted Applique Forum friends to find the perfect tutorial for how to hoop a onesie.  Megan, from Penguin Personalization has a fantastic tutorial here.  Part of the angst I experienced with the onesie is that I accidentally allowed the snaps to get caught up under the hoop while stitching and what a mess!

Yep!  I sew that turkey right onto the snaps area....  Sigh....  So me and my handy seam ripper spent a long time fixing that one.  That will NOT happen again!!  And lastly, one more little learning moment, apparently if you want your "raggy" turkey to be "raggy" you should not put Heat N Bond Lite on the fabric like you do for everything else!  Lesson learned!!

Here is my final product, whole onesie and design up close

School of T&E: Studio MCA Ski Chick

A few weeks back I bought this plain pink hoodie jacket for fall/early winter for Olivia with plans to add something special to it.  Over the past few months I have been a member of Applique Forum.  Through AF I met Studio MCA Designs owner, Melissa.  She has since become a favorite source for embroidery blanks and packing supplies.  I am just starting to stitch out some of her designs and expect to be doing a lot more because her Christmas line "Jingle Jungle" is adorable!!  

But back to that jacket....  After looking around quite a bit DH and I decided to go with Melissa's Ski Chick!  

As mentioned before I am very new to applique and learning by trial and error along with help from the wonderful members and sponsors at Applique Forum.  Part of the purpose of this blog is to serve as an outlet for documenting my learning process.  I think it will be fun to look back on these challenging times later on so I want to keep track of them!

My main error made with this design was wanting my chicken too fluffy.  I added flannel below the fabric to puff him up a bit.  Somehow that resulted in his body lifting up when the stitching was going down and a small hole occurring where that happened.  I went back and stitched by hand to secure him after the fact but I wish now that I had not added the flannel and I think it would have gone perfectly.  Either way the design is absolutely adorable.

First is my finished product and then following the chicken with hole and subsequent hand stitched chicken.

Learning the Hard Way

Growing up, my mother did not sew and in high school Home Economics was not a requirement so I never touched a sewing machine until a year ago when my sweet hubby ordered one for me as a Christmas gift.  I googled and googled but really could not find a good option for sewing classes in my area.  I tried a couple classes at a local sewing store but concluded that they were not meant for folks like me who could barely figure out how to make the machine go.  I would be so far behind the other students that the teacher would come over and essentially do my work for me so once I was home I couldn't reproduce any of it.  I also tried a private lesson with a local lady who taught classes but didn't have any openings.  That was a costly choice that netted me no new skills as well.  So, instead of continuing to pursue classes I entered the School of Trial and Error.  Apparently, I learn best by doing things wrong two or three times at least, sometimes more.

Currently, I am learning to applique using digitized files that are loaded into my sewing machine.  One would think that if the design has already been created and the sewing machine knows what to do when the file is transmitted that you will have a wonderful creation 100% of the time.  I wish!  Who knew it could be so hard to center an article of clothing for a sewing machine!  The fun part though is picking out the fabric and thread colors - that is what really makes for a unique creation from one person to another.

Welcome!

For as long as I can remember my heart's desire has been to be able to stay at home when I had children.  My daughter is close to 17 months old and I am still not sure when I might be able to put my career on hold but I do know that once I do I hope to make it a long-term situation.  I am planning for that by learning to sew, embroider and applique so that later on I can continue contributing to our income while spending time with the most precious gift God has given me.

I have started this blog to help me keep track of the many projects I find myself wanting to do and also as a way to chronicle my personal journey to making my dreams reality.