Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Big Sis!
A friend requested a shirt for her daughter, same age as Olivia, to wear when baby #2 arrives. I immediately knew it would be a great time to try out the Studio MCA Designs' Big/Lil Sis/Bro design. I needed the Angelina font to personalize the shirt and once I had the design all together in my software decided to also add the companion ladybug. I was really pleased with how this came out. I am still learning my new embroidery machine and it is much quirkier than my combo machine was so it's still trial and error but I am getting more comfortable with it as time goes on.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Be my Valentine!
For Valentine's I used a ready made Monag empire waist dress in red. I embroidered Olivia's initials on the top center. The font is Curlz by 8 Claws and A Paw. This was my first experiment with re-sizing letters in my software. I resized the O and N so that they looked like a traditional monogram format. Then I added Studio MCA's Tweet Heart design to the bottom right. I went with this design because though it is cute for Valentine's it can really be worn anytime.
Isn't she precious? We sure do think so!! Olivia discovered Buddy's Halloween costume in the closet on Valentine's Day evening and was obsessed with putting it on!
Gymnastics!
A friend asked me to make a shirt for her daughter to take to her gymnastics meet. She sent me an example of something she had seen on Etsy and asked me to try to make something similar. This required me to merge two different designs together plus a font which is the most complicated thing I have done with my software to date. The gymnast is filled embroidery which uses a lot of thread and takes a long time to stitch but I was pleased with how she stitched out. She was from a larger design set from Designs by JuJu. The team colors are zebra and hot pink. I used a variegated thread on part of the gymnast's top to try to create a zebra-like effect and of course the M (from Planet Applique) is done with zebra print fabric.
Recent baby projects
I haven't posted in 2 months but I have done a few things here and there in that time. In general it is taking me a really long time to get projects done. I am just so tired between working and being mommy. Mark travels most every week now so I am "on" all the time and hardly ever get a moment's rest. Fortunately, I am happy to say that the past week or so Olivia has been sleeping much better at night which means I at least get uninterrupted sleep.....it only took 20 months!!
Below is a ready made blanket and big set I did for a friend as a gift for her 3rd boy. She had a planned section on Feb 8th so I sort of what thinking Valentine baby which is why I picked the plane with the heart. The font on both is Tinker Toy from 8 Claws And A Paw. The plane was a generous freebie on Applique Forum from Applique Cafe. The lighting on this photo is terrible! It looked okay on the camera screen but that was just an illusion!
Below is a ready made blanket and big set I did for a friend as a gift for her 3rd boy. She had a planned section on Feb 8th so I sort of what thinking Valentine baby which is why I picked the plane with the heart. The font on both is Tinker Toy from 8 Claws And A Paw. The plane was a generous freebie on Applique Forum from Applique Cafe. The lighting on this photo is terrible! It looked okay on the camera screen but that was just an illusion!
Next up we have a blanket I made with fleece and minky and then embroidered with the name. This blanket was for my aunt's first granddaughter! The font here is from Hang to Dry and is called Holly Jolly.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
New baby
I have mentioned my new machine several times but she needs a proper intro!
Over Black Friday weekend the timing worked out for us to purchase a Brother PE770. The PE770 is a step up from my SE400. The SE400 is a combination sewing and embroidery machine and the largest hoop size is 4x4 (which can be stretched to 4x12 with some snazzy software skills). The PE770 is an embroidery only machine which has a hoop size of 5x7 (which also can be stretched to 5x12).
With combo machines there is a different platform, for lack of a better word, when sewing vs embroidering. When you want to switch tasks you have to change the foot,thread and switch out the platform. It's a real pain if you do equal amounts of each. I had gotten to the point I had learned to group my projects so that I wasn't constantly switching everything but it was becoming a nuisance. Also, as Olivia is growing the 4x4 sized designs were beginning to look a little small.
My new machine has some quirks I am adjusting to but overall it is really nice to have so many options. So in a year's time I have gone from having no machines to having three (sew/embroidery combo, embroidery and serger). Wow! Here is the new baby!
Over Black Friday weekend the timing worked out for us to purchase a Brother PE770. The PE770 is a step up from my SE400. The SE400 is a combination sewing and embroidery machine and the largest hoop size is 4x4 (which can be stretched to 4x12 with some snazzy software skills). The PE770 is an embroidery only machine which has a hoop size of 5x7 (which also can be stretched to 5x12).
With combo machines there is a different platform, for lack of a better word, when sewing vs embroidering. When you want to switch tasks you have to change the foot,thread and switch out the platform. It's a real pain if you do equal amounts of each. I had gotten to the point I had learned to group my projects so that I wasn't constantly switching everything but it was becoming a nuisance. Also, as Olivia is growing the 4x4 sized designs were beginning to look a little small.
My new machine has some quirks I am adjusting to but overall it is really nice to have so many options. So in a year's time I have gone from having no machines to having three (sew/embroidery combo, embroidery and serger). Wow! Here is the new baby!
Happy New Year!
Can you believe how quickly 2011 flew by and we are already a week into the new year? My brain is already churning with thoughts of how in a few short months I'll need to start planning my daughter's 2 year birthday party!
Many folks make New Year Resolutions or goals at the beginning of each year and I am no different. My goals for 2012 are:
-learn to use my serger
-work on my sewing skills (specifically I'd like to learn to make some simple clothing items for Olivia like ruffled pants and A line type dresses)
-continue to hone my embroidery and applique skills
I have decided to put business plans on hold for now. I will continue to do small requests from friends and make gifts for relatives but I am not ready to sell my work to the mass public by any stretch of the imagination. I really need to work on my techniques and fine tune them first. I ruined several items over the holiday because I was either tired, not paying close enough attention or just not familiar enough with my new machine. The reality is that because I work full-time I am only able to work on my crafting in the evenings unless it's during a nap on the weekend. At night I am just not at my best. So, the time to open a business is not now and I am totally okay with that. God has my family's future in His capable hands. When it is the right time He will make it clear to us what the next steps are and the timing for them.
So, what can you expect to see on the blog this year? More of the same!!
Many folks make New Year Resolutions or goals at the beginning of each year and I am no different. My goals for 2012 are:
-learn to use my serger
-work on my sewing skills (specifically I'd like to learn to make some simple clothing items for Olivia like ruffled pants and A line type dresses)
-continue to hone my embroidery and applique skills
I have decided to put business plans on hold for now. I will continue to do small requests from friends and make gifts for relatives but I am not ready to sell my work to the mass public by any stretch of the imagination. I really need to work on my techniques and fine tune them first. I ruined several items over the holiday because I was either tired, not paying close enough attention or just not familiar enough with my new machine. The reality is that because I work full-time I am only able to work on my crafting in the evenings unless it's during a nap on the weekend. At night I am just not at my best. So, the time to open a business is not now and I am totally okay with that. God has my family's future in His capable hands. When it is the right time He will make it clear to us what the next steps are and the timing for them.
So, what can you expect to see on the blog this year? More of the same!!
Christmas Gifts
Here are some of the items I completed during the Christmas rush -
Added initial to two ready made scarves for relatives
Hooded Toddler Towel for a relative (made from 1/2 of a hand towel and one bath towel, strip of fabric and then embroidered) -
And for my little girl, I added the adorable Studio MCA Designs Jingle Jungle Giraffes with Ornament applique. I opted to use the fuzzy giraffe print fabric rather than plain fabric and the embroidered polka dots from the design.
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