Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from my family to yours!

Well, Happy Easter from most of my family. I promise he's not grumpy about wearing a pink and purple tie. He was upset about being told where to stand. :)
Last year I went a bit crazy and made a reversible A-line and JonJon set for my kids. I decided "never again" and tried to simplify this year! Annaliese's dress is reversible, but reversible pillowcase dresses are SO much easier! I got this fabric for something crazy like $1/yard when Walmart got rid of it's fabric department. I knew I would use it for a spring dress! I didn't exactly follow a pattern; I referred to this tutorial, but used Martha Pullen's method of construction.

 The applique Circle Monogram Alpha is from Planet Applique.

I picked that 3-letter monogram because I knew I had a small version of it that I could use on the American Girl sized dress as well as Dashiell's tie. (It was a freebie on Sew Forum several years ago, but is no longer available.) And no pattern for this dress, I just grabbed some rough measurements from a nightgown we have for the AG doll and made up my own thing. It worked out... should have made a template of that first. OOPS!

Dashiell's tie shirt uses one of my absolute favorite designs, the Neck Tie Applique from GG Designs. SO simple, but just the perfect proportions, and I love that the tackdown stitches for the knot are separate from the rest of the tie so you can rotate the stripe or plaid. (If you own an embroidery machine, you need this design. And while you are there, check out that pic of baby Dashiell! My how he's grown.)

Ok, hope you aren't tired of pictures, now on to side TWO! I've had this butterfly material in my stash for a long time. I got it for free, and can't remember who gave it to me. I've been trying to use this for two years now! I couldn't figure out what to applique on it, and told Annaliese I was considering leaving it blank since it was busy enough on it's own. She looked at me like I was absurd. So to humor her I searched my fabric stash to see if I had anything that matched. I found some scraps from a quilt that I've had for years that was PERFECT.

I quickly settled on Embroidery Boutique's Vintage Applique Alphabet when I discovered it had a small size as well as the regular 4x4 and 5x7 sizes. This has become my new go-to font for making matching items for girls and dolls!

No modeled pictures yet, I was pressing my luck this morning and have a feeling I'd be met with a grumpy face if I asked her to pose for me again. Check back later here or on facebook.

Bunny Shirts (not Stitched by Janay)

Ok, I didn't make these but I want to show them off anyway! These are Stitched by Grandma Kathy. :)

Kathy used the bunny designs from Lynnie Pinnie. Aren't they so cute?!? Dashiell got the Bunny Boy Applique:

Annaliese got the Bunny Girl Applique:

One of the reasons I LOVE Lynnie Pinnie designs is because of her wide satin stitches. This worked to our advantage because Kathy was able to shrink down the 4x4 size and put it on this shirt for Annaliese's American Girl doll. It stitched beautifully!!

Kathy also made Annaliese and her doll matching hair clippies. She used DigiStitches' Snap Clip Mini Bunny.

I love having talented moms. They help out when I don't have time to make holiday wear for my own kids, or by making curtains or quilts... All things I long to do, but don't take the time for. Thanks Kathy!

(Ok, less than 48 hours to go and all I've done is cut out the material for Annaliese's reversible pillowcase dress. Here's hoping D naps today so I can get the embroidery done!)

Burp Cloth

Michelle requested this burp cloth -- I think we've used this alphabet at least three times now. Love this little monkey! :)  The design is from the Monkey Shines Applique Alphabet Uppercase set sold on OregonPatchWorks. I added "Sean" with Embird Alphabet #2.

Nerdy Ribbon Blanket, take 2!

When big brother Torin was born, I made a special one-of-a-kind superhero ribbon blanket for him. Now two years later little brother Nolan has arrived and needs his own special one-of-a-kind superhero ribbon blanket!
You've seen these designs already -- after digitizing them I first stitched them on some burp cloths that I sent to Jason and Anna before Nolan's birth.  I ran out of time to get the blanket made before he was born, and now over a month later it's done!

I used flannel for the front - I almost leaped with joy when I finally found gray flannel locally! :) I used white minkee on the back:

Here are close-ups of the applique designs. These are actually a bit bigger than the designs I did on the burp cloths, which made them easier to trim out.

I would love to see the boys together with their blankets, but alas, they live hundreds and hundreds of miles away, so I'll have to wait for a picture. :)

Little Sibling Bibs

Recently 8 Claws and a Paw Embroidery released some new sibling designs that I think are cute! I decided to stitch the "I'm the Little Brother" and "I'm the Little Sister" designs on bibs from my stash:

Since I didn't have specific recipients in mind, I decided to make the big elephant yellow -- it will be good for any baby, whether the baby has a big sister or a big brother. I think it would be super cute to use pink or purple in the case of a big sister and blue or green in the case of a big brother.

I also have the "I'm the Big Brother" and "I'm the Big Sister" designs. They would look really cute on a tote bag for the new big sibling to take to the hospital on a first visit! Hmmm... that's a great idea I had while sitting here blogging. Maybe I'll just do that. :)

Promote Your Brand with Adorable Kids!

My husband recently started working for Onyx Group. Last week he got his hands on the digitized logo and sent it my way. I was anxious to test stitch the design, so guess who got a new t-shirt!!

(Special thanks to Sarah for letting me use this picture!)
The embroidery design is actually the pocket logo for adult shirts, but it looks great centered on a 2T shirt!

The Onyx shirts also include a tiny version of their signature dot on the back below the collar, so I added that to Dashiell's shirt, too.

I took Dashiell by the office wearing his new shirt -- he was quite the hit. Everyone loved seeing a 2 year old wear their brand. :)  While there I confirmed that it was alright for me to play around with the design and another idea, because I knew what was next...
When Annaliese saw Dashiell's shirt, her first question was, "Where did he get that?" It was quickly followed up with, "I want one, too!"
I felt like for a size 7 shirt though, the logo was too small to be centered and too big to be in the pocket area. So I decided to create an applique design of the Onyx dot and use the already-digitized name in the center, just like their logo:

 We were all pleased with the results!

And here they both are, showing off the back:

 

Now I just need to be sure they have Daddy's business card in their pocket so when someone asks, "What is Onyx?" they can whip one out. :)

Recreating a logo

Recently I was asked to add embroidery to a Build-A-Bear shirt for someone trying to recreate a particular outfit. I was up for the challenge, so she gave me the BAB shirt as well as the shirt with the logo I was going to imitate. It turned out to be a pretty quick project! I used Embird alphabet #16 for the word Angel. It's not exactly the same font, but very close. I digitized the little halo to go on the A.

After I delivered the shirt, I learned the story behind the bear and his outfit, which brought tears to my eyes. This little project quickly became one of my all-time favorites. I am very blessed to be able to work on custom items that are meaningful to the recipient.

Party Favors!

For Annaliese's birthday I took her and two buddies to Lizette's Great Beadginnings for a beading class. As a party favor I made these cute drawstring bags for them to keep their new jewelry in:

Now, drawstring bags aren't all that complicated to make. But before spending brain power thinking about how to construct one, I decided to do a quick google search to see if there was a free tutorial out there. I found one that was AWESOME! Go check out this step-by-step tutorial (including great pictures) by Chica and Jo. I followed it exactly and love how they turned out.

I used Embroidery Boutique's "Got Beads?" design for the bead frame, but omitted the text and added their names instead with Embird Alphabet #38. Annaliese really wanted me to use variegated thread. I had tons of purple, and thankfully I had *just* enough of the pink and blue left to do it! It's hard to tell in these pictures, but the lime green fabric is sparkly, so these are extra pretty. :)

 

Here's a picture of their girls wearing their new necklaces and showing off their bags! (You can read more about Annaliese's shirt here and Kylie's shirt here.)

Happy Birthday, Annaliese!

Today my girl turned seven!!

I've already shared with you her birthday shirt -- she was involved with the whole process of picking the design and fabrics, so it was no surprise. What she didn't know is that I made a couple coordinating items. First, I made a matching hairbow. I used Button Cupcake Felt Stitchies design from GG Designs, but instead of stitching on a button, I ironed on a "7" cut out of the same material I used on her shirt.

I also made a cupcake shirt for her American Girl doll, using the same felt stitchies design. I debated for a while, but opted not to put a "7" on Anna's shirt -- I don't know how old Annaliese thinks she is since she just got her at Christmas. :) This is actually a newborn onesie (purchased for Dashiell but never worn) that I chopped off. Notice I didn't even take the time to hem it?!

 

Annaliese was thrilled with the little extras that she unwrapped today and enjoyed the whole outfit. Now I need to run put her clothes in dryer so they are clean for school tomorrow! :)

Happy Birthday, Kylie!

One of my daughter's best buddies had an American Girl themed birthday party tonight. Here's what Annaliese took as a gift for Kylie (and her AG Rebecca):

Valerie had found a cute free design available at Lynnie Pinnie that I was going to use, but it only comes in the 4x4" size. That was just too small for Kylie's shirt and too big for Rebecca's shirt. So I digitized my own applique star and added the text with Thin Lizzy from 8 Claws and a Paw.

I bought the doll shirt at Michael's (it came with a pair of jeans, too). I LOVE this font -- the 1/2" size stitches amazingly well!!

Silent Auction Donation

Tonight there was a Spring Festival at my daughter's school. Each class was assigned a theme for a class basket that would be put into a silent auction. Our theme was "Car Wash." When I got the list of suggested items for donation, the one that jumped out at me was travel mug. :)

I used Embroidery Boutique's Owl Branch Applique and added the text with Embird Alphabet #14.

Here it is sitting on the table. I don't know what the final bid was. I considered bidding myself, but then decided that was ridiculous, I can just make another one. :)