Back to School bags

I took this picture Sunday night before going to sleep, all of our bags packed and ready for the first day of school!

Annaliese's backpack from last year (errr, two years ago!)  is still holding up, so I didn't have any monogramming to do for her.
Dashiell picked out this Spider-man backpack and lunchbox set. I knew I'd make a keychain type tag for his lunchbox.

We debated (at great length) WHERE the monogram should go on his backpack. Front and center didn't work because it would cover up the spider symbol.  He nixed every suggestion I made, and I physically couldn't do his suggestions. Boy, he was getting frustrated. Finally he said, "can you put it here?" and pointed to the little plastic sleeve for contact info. I said, "sure!"

NO JOKE this took less than five minutes. I hooped tearaway, sprayed adhesive, laid down a piece of black vinyl, stitched the monogram, trimmed the rectangle to proper size and slid it in. EASIEST bag monogramming job ever!

I was going to use ribbon for the tag on his lunchbox but realized the vinyl would be super cool. I just monogrammed a strip, folded it in half around a D-ring, and stitched it up on my sewing machine! We used 8CP Spidey font for his monogram

As I have done in the past, I bought a couple Publix shopping bags and monogrammed them to deliver school supplies in. I picked I2S Box Font Applique for the big monograms which made it easy to cover the printed logo. To make things simpler, I skipped the satin stitches and just made the applique raggy (yes, I admit I was doing this at 9pm on Sunday night). I love this print with the tiny owls!

I used Cinnamon Cake to add Mrs. Harvey's name:

And I used Jelly Bean to add Ms. Sperling's name:

I thought they turned out cute!

If you don't own the Box Font alphabet set or number set,  they are on sale until Friday morning! You can read all the details on the I2S Facebook page, but in short -- it's because they are my favorite and we are celebrating my 1 year anniversary with I2S :) ENJOY!

First Day of School 2012

Another school year is off to a great start. But I'm blogging so late in the day! In years past I've hustled home after drop off and posted pictures right away, but this year is different (more on that in my next blog post).
Here are the kids this morning before dropping Annaliese off:

For Annaliese's shirt I used Lynnie Pinnie's Third Grade Rocks design.

For Dashiell's shirt I used East Coast Applique's Pre-K tag design. I customized it with our school name using the Tiny Alphabet from 8 Claws and a Paw.

Annaliese has used the same backpack for 3 years so I suppose it's time for a new one! I found myself monogramming this at 8:45pm last night... talk about waiting until the last minute!

I used 8CP's Pizazz to create the monogram. I love the way her initials look in this font! There was no easy way to put the monogram on the front the way the pockets are and how the lunch box attaches, so I put it on the top.

And there was no way I could monogram the lunch box, so I made a little keychain out of ribbon to attach to the handle.

Like last year, I monogrammed a Publix shopping bag for their teachers, and we used them to deliver all their school supplies. This is the Taylor Monogram font Lynnie Pinnie.

Monogramming for School

I'm hesitant to show these off because as a rule, I don't monogram back packs and lunch boxes. Generally they are virtually impossible to do on my single-needle machine. But for good friends I'll entertain the idea -- if the item is relatively easy to hoop and not too thick. I don't commit to anything until I personally inspect each item. :)
Nicole found this cute set at a Children's Place Outlet store. I figured I could monogram the back pack and pencil pouch, but immediately said no to the lunch box -- it is very well insulated and I didn't think my machine would handle it well -- not worth the risk. Then I realized I could take it along with me to IL and monogram it on my MIL's 6-needle machine!

 Presley wanted her three-letter monogram on the back pack and pencil case, and name on her lunch box. I used Tinker Toy from 8 Claws and a Paw for both.

I thought I'd share a couple pictures of how I hooped the pencil pouch. Inside out on sticky stabilizer:

Here's a close-up. See how close that zipper is to the needle if I'm not holding it back? This is why you have to hold your breath the whole time!

 (If you are wondering about hooping a back pack, you can see my "tutorial" here.)

I also did a couple of lunch totes for Valerie. She grabbed these on clearance last year. I can't remember the name of material they are made out of, but it's a lot like a can koozie. Not too thick to stitch through and very flexible, so I said yes. :)

I used Swirley from 8 Claws and a Paw for their names.

Here's a pic of embroidery in progress. Sticky stabilizer makes it possible, but again, holding my breath! Can't really tell if it's centered and straight until it's done. Eep!

Ok, I think that does it for school bag monogramming this year. Thankfully Annaliese's backpack from kindergarten still looks fantastic even after 2 years of daily use, so we aren't shopping! YAY!

Hooping a back pack

Someone asked me today how I hooped a back pack, and instead of just typing it up for her, I decided to put it on my blog to share with many. I searched for a tutorial online and couldn't quickly find one. So here we go!

First of all, since I have a single needle home embroidery machine, I often have to tell people no when they ask me to monogram a bag. Usually it is near impossible or too difficult to be worth the stress. But if the embroidery spot is easily accessible, I'm willing to give it a go. For example, here is Annaliese's backpack from this past school year, purchased at Old Navy:

Obviously it is already monogrammed... I'm going to quickly run through how I did it. See how this front pocket unzips and pulls down quite a ways? This makes it possible to lay on my hoop.

I use a hoopless embroidery method. I hooped tearaway stabilizer and used spray adhesive. (If I were to do it again today, I would use sticky stabilizer, but I didn't own any at that point.)

Then I placed the pocket of the backpack on the hoop. (I had used a marking pen to note where the center of my design should be and was sure the bag was straight on my hoop.) The stickiness of the stabilizer will hold the vinyl down flat, but it's good to pin the bag to the stabilizer outside of the stitching area just as an extra measure.

Now I move the hoop to the machine and stitch away!

Side view:

Front view. This is the tricky part... the bag blocks my view of the machine. And I need to hold the bag the whole time so the weight of it doesn't drag the hoop and distort the embroidery. You wouldn't want to do an extensive design on a bag hooped like this, just a name or three-letter monogram. (OH, and now I see how dirty her bag is, need to go wash it. insert blush)

This is my view as I stand over the bag. I can peak and hit the stop button if needed. :)

So there you go. Is that helpful??

Recent stitching...

Here are several items I've monogrammed in the last week or so...

Kristen asked me to monogram Madison's backpack. Thanks to her request, I learned that Old Navy had cute backpacks, and immediately ran to get Annaliese's! Madison chose Embird Alphabet #38 for her name:


Susie and Lisa requested that I monogram this blanket for Ellie, who is starting her freshman year at UF. I used the Elle alphabet from 8 Paws and a Claw.


Melanie requested matching cups for her daughters. Jailyn got a Playtex sippy cup and Jayla got a water bottle. The "J" is Deco Alphabet from Designed by Jane and their names are stitched with Harrington from 8 Paws and a Claw.



Her son Jaeson got this onesie (I digitized the star, used Embird Alphabet #8 for text):

JR's backpack

When Daisha updated their family blog with pictures of JR's first day of school, I realized I had never posted a picture of the patch I had stitched for her.

Now, JR is not starting kindergarten like Annaliese. He's pursuing a Masters of Divinity at Harding Graduate School of Religion. As a surprise gift, Daisha asked me to make a big patch that she would later attach on whatever backpack he picked. Here's what I stitched, per her request, knowing that JR would LOVE it. (I bought a new alphabet for the occasion, this is Embird Alphabet #30.)

If you'd like to know more about the statement, check out JR's blog, Keep Thou My Feet, I'm not getting into a theological debate here. :) Although I will say that Annaliese kept asking me what it said and what it meant -- she just didn't get it. Daisha and I both reassured her that JR loves Jesus. You know, it's like the song, "Oh, how I love Jesus, because he first loved me!"

Here's a picture of the patch now in place on JR's bag:

Annaliese's backpack

Yesterday I monogrammed Annaliese's backpack and made a little accessory. (Cole is on an owl stitching spree this week and inspired me to use a design I bought a long time ago but hadn't stitched yet. Do you have these in your stash, or do I actually have an owl that you don't??)

I stitched her three-letter monogram with Action Font from 8 Paws and a Claw.

Her elementary school's mascot is an owl and their school colors are aqua and white, so I stitched out this little softy for her to attach to her back pack. Whooty is from DigiStitches and comes in various sizes. I stitched the smallest; this picture should show it's actual size.

Now Annaliese wants a bigger one to sleep with! Maybe a "night before Kindergarten" gift, if I can get my act together.