Name banners

In the spring Sue asked me to make a name banner for her newest granddaughter, and shortly after asked if I could make one for each of her other granddaughters for Christmas gifts. She requested the color schemes and (months later) I got to work!

I used the Frayed Block Letters from Hang To Dry to create the banners. Addy got turquoise and lime, connected with a lime with blue dot ribbon (so excited to find that in my stash!!)

Megan got hot pink and zebra (again, found a zebra print ribbon in my stash)

Jessica got turquoise and soccer:

and Madison got hot pink and soccer:

To save myself some time at the embroidery machine, I spent some time with my software at the beginning. I made a list of what letters I needed in each fabric and then merged together letters in my 6x10 hoop. Often I could get 2 or 3 letters together.

 Instead of 23 separate hoopings with my 5x7 hoop, I completed all the letters in 12 hoopings. This saved time as well as fabric and stabilizer. Much more efficient!

In my past name banners I have used short strips of fabric/muslin to tie letters together. This time I did a different technique. I spread out one long piece of ribbon and laid the letters on top. Using a little wooden stick I poked the ribbon through the button hole, tied a contrasting strip of fabric to the ribbon, and tugged it flush with the letter again. I like the look of the extra pop of color! Having a piece of ribbon run across the back of letters like M and N also kept them from stretching and hanging goofy.

I loved how these turned out, and so did my daughter. Surprisingly she hasn't begged for one yet...