Miscellaneous Stitching...

Eh, I'm trying to catch up. I have a bunch of little stuff that I've done over the past few months but haven't shared yet. So I'm going to throw them all at you in one big post.
Monogrammed Flower Flip Flops -- I put all the design and how-to details in a blog post earlier this year, you can find it here. I made three more pairs at the end of July:

Key Chains:
Sabrina asked me to make one for her niece, and Rebekah asked me to make a couple for her daughter... these are being used as name tags on back packs and lunch boxes, made from 1.5" ribbon and D-rings:

Key Fobs:
Last weekend our family attended a fun shindig, and what better gift do you take to a sweet sixteen party than a key fob?? It also makes an awesome gift for Annaliese's teacher, whose birthday was this week.

(Quick side note: if you make DigiStitches key fobs, or really any thing that requires a tube that needs to be turned, you MUST get this Quick Turn tool. WOW it makes it unbelievably easy and fast to turn something right side out!!)

And finally my big project of the week... 10 more aprons like the ones I made earlier in the summer.

This was an exciting and successful experiment in running both machines at the same time. What would have taken me over two and a half hours on one machine I got done in less than an hour and a half. Woo-hoo! I won't be able to do this very often, but 2-color embroidery-only designs on aprons was doable. And can only be done when I'm home alone. It's pretty loud, so I don't want to wake sleeping children, or not be able to hear what is going on outside of my room. Or be distracted, that could be disastrous. :)

Monogrammed Flip Flops

My little birthday buddy Kenzie turned 6 last week and had an adorable Smurfette party. She already had a Smurfette t-shirt, so I decided to make her some blue and yellow monogrammed flip flops!

The idea came from Embroidery Garden. You can download a free pdf with directions on her site. If you join Reen's AD list yahoo group, you can also download the embroidery files for the fringe covered buttons!

Ready for the Pool!

Last week I found towels (only $4 at Walmart) that match my kids' swimsuits perfectly! Annaliese picked the thread colors and font (Action from 8 Claws and a Paw), I did the stitching.



I surprised Annaliese by embellishing a pair of her flip flops with these monogrammed flowers:

The idea came from Embroidery Garden. You can download a free pdf with directions there. If you join her AD list yahoo group, you can also download the embroidery files for the fringe covered buttons!

Happy Easter!

This project has been quite an undertaking! I've wanted to make Annaliese and Dashiell matching reversible outfits using Martha Pullen's patterns for a long time. In the fall, I embellished pre-made items Kathy sent me, and at Christmas Annaliese's dress from the previous year still fit, so she didn't really need another. It was my goal to finally make a pair for spring/summer this year, and I achieved that! I worked off an on for four days and got them done in time for Easter Sunday.

Here is the spring side:

I purchased the material at JoAnns. It took me forever to find a print that worked well for both a boy and girl. Annaliese requested a bunny, and I just adore Lynnie Pinnie's Hopping Bunny, so that decision was pretty easy. I used the 5x7 size for A and the 4x4 size for D. I added their names with the Whoa Nelly font from 8 Claws and a Paw.


Lynnie Pinnie also had a mini bunny design, so I decided to try embroidered covered buttons for Annaliese's dress. I reduced the design to 80% and used a 1.5" button. They turned out so cute!!


And the summer side:

This material was a gift from Sandy at Dashiell's baby shower, and I'm finally using it! I spent a long time trying to decide what design to put on it. Asking Annaliese for her opinion made the process take even longer, but eventually we settled on Lynnie Pinnie's zig-zag applique crab. It comes in three sizes, I used the biggest size for Annaliese:

Dashiell's is the smallest:

LP also has a mini crab design, so this side has embroidered monogram buttons, too!

I was inspired by a dress I saw posted on Sew Forum, so I placed the crabs on the bottom, and stitched their monograms on the top. Again, I spent a lot of time finding a font that wasn't too feminine or masculine, and settled on the Bingham font for 8 Claws and a Paw. These resized well; I enlarged A's and reduced D's so they would be more proportional to the size of their outfit.


Whew, what a lot of work! We'll see if I can muster up enough strength to try this again for fall/winter. :)

Update: Here are my cuties in the crab side of their outfits!

Gift for Baby Madison

Our good friends Gary and Becky are expecting a baby girl any time in the next couple weeks, so I've been stitching fun stuff for her.
Both parents are FSU alumni and Seminole fans. The Indian ragdoll design is from Jumping Needle (no longer available), and I added "Daddy's Little Seminole" with an alphabet I have from Oregon Patch Works.


Madison's room is all decked out in pink, so I choose pink for this burp cloth. The lovely monogram is Empire font from Embroidery Arts.

When I found out her name is going to be Madison Marie, I immediately thought of M&Ms. How I do love chocolate... I modified a design from Stitch On Time to do a playful burp cloth with her initials.

To coordinate, Kathy digitized an "m" for me in a font that would make this bib look like a big M&M.

(Turns out some family members are already calling Madison M&M, so my ideas were appreciated. Woo-hoo!)
The only specific thing Becky requested were some bows with monogrammed buttons to use on Madison's stroller and infant carrier. I've had a covered button kit for a long time but never attempted it. There is really nothing to it, and I'm glad I finally had a reason to give it a try! Valerie lent a hand by making the bows for me, and then I added the monogrammed button to the front and safety pin to the back. I hope they work well!