Stitched for Andrea

I spent the last five days stitching exclusively for my friend Andrea!

At the beginning of the week I appliqued seven airplanes on a shower curtain for her boys' bathroom. She has been hunting for something to coordinate with their bedding and couldn't find anything. So she bought a plain shower curtain, coordinating fabrics, and requested I use contrasting thread. It was a challenge, I learned a lot, and thankfully the whole family was thrilled with the results!

The airplane design is from Applique Cafe. (Cole--she has a cute owl on her site if you haven't been there! ;))

I used Embird Alphabet #8 to add their names to two of the planes.

Once I completed that, I tackled a set of matching Christmas shirts for her boys and nephews.

The applique reindeer is from Designs by JuJu. I used the 4x4 size for the youngest, and the 5x7 for the other three boys.


Andrea's boys have matching red corduroy pants -- I cannot wait to see a picture of them!!

Lastly, I stitched a crayon and pencil roll set for Ethan for his birthday party, which was this morning. (The in-hoop designs are from Sewing for Sarah.)

Recent stitching...

I thought with summer starting and not having to drive Annaliese back and forth to preschool every day I would have more time to sew. So far, not the case... maybe now that daily swim lessons are over I can continue to tackle my to do list. We'll see.

Anyway, I recently stitched a pair of crayon rolls and pencil rolls for Terri's girls:


And about a month ago I made key chains for Sabrina to give to her classroom volunteers, as I did last year. School colors are dark green and silver; I used Embird Alphabet #33 on all of them. (Also did one for Michelle while I was at it!)

Pencil Roll for Chase

Michelle ordered a pencil roll for her nephew's birthday. She thought Chase could use it while writing and drawing during church service. What kid wouldn't like that? Annaliese uses her crayon, pencil and marker rolls every Sunday!
The pencil roll design is from Sewing For Sarah. I used Embird Alphabet #8 (can you tell that's my favorite??) for his name.

Happy Birthday, Bryce!

Annaliese's buddy Bryce turns four tomorrow. His superhero party is this afternoon. I searched locally for superhero fabric, but would you believe I couldn't find any Superman, Batman or Spider-man fabric?? Oh well, I settled for this space fabric to make him a set of crayon and pencil rolls (designs from Sewing for Sarah). I personalized these in yet another way. I've been pleased with Annaliese's set where I used ponytail holders as the closure. So I opted to do that for Bryce as well. Before making the rolls I embroidered his name on the back fabric (used Embird Alphabet #8) so that it would be visible when they are rolled up.

Too busy to update!

Well, it may seem to my faithful readers that I have taken the week off. Actually, I've been so busy filling orders this week that I haven't taken the time to update my blog! Virtually all of the items my friends ordered were gifts, so as I get permission from them to post, I will update my blog.

Before launching into that, though...

I realized this morning that I never posted a project I worked on when we were home for Christmas. Kathy let me use her embroidery machine to stitch out a few Sewing For Sarah rolls that I cannot do -- they require a larger stitch field than I have on my machine. Let me repeat, I cannot make these for you unless you pay me to go back home to IL. And believe me, that would be cheaper than buying me a machine with a 6x10 stitch field, but I would acceptable that solution, too, if you are so inclined. :)

I used Kathy's machine to make Annaliese a new matching set of coloring utensil rolls. One holds 8 markers, one holds 12 crayons, and the other holds 8 colored pencils (which I can do on my machine).

This time instead of using ribbon for a tie closure or making an embroidered velcro closure, I used ponytail holders. These are the cheap kind, so they are extra stretchy, making it easy for Annaliese to pull off and on herself.


I did stitch out a few extras while I was there. Kylie and Kenzie got a set of marker and pencil rolls to go with the crayon rolls I made them in July to match their tote bags. And I have two more marker rolls reserved for a friend who expressed interest. If she doesn't want them, they'll be up for grabs! Sorry I didn't get more made while we were in IL... I was having too much fun making my first A-Line dress!

Keep in mind that I CAN make a crayon roll for 8/9 crayons, an 8-pencil roll, a 4-marker roll, and a 6-toddler crayon or chalk roll. Lots of options for what can go inside, and now three options for closing them, tie a ribbon bow, personalized velcro closure, or a ponytail holder!

Happy Birthday Roberta, Jesse and Jake!

WOW! It seems like half of Annaliese's friends were born within the first 5 days of November! That makes for lots of birthday gifts!

Roberta turned 3 and loves princesses, so I made her a crayon purse and put Princess Aurora on the pocket. It was so fun to watch her open it in person -- she liked her name and the crayons, but when she flipped it over and saw Aurora, she was ecstatic! It was precious.


Both Jesse (church friend) and Jake (preschool friend) turned 4 this year. I made them each a pair of crayon and pencil rolls.


Jake, his brother Brodie and mom loved them so much that they ordered a set for Brodie, too! I got those done this weekend and will deliver them tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Joie!

Annaliese gave Joie her birthday gift today, so I can finally post pictures on my blog -- I didn't want her parents to get a sneak peek! ;)
I made a pair of personalized SewingForSarah rolls, one for crayons and another for colored pencils. I like the bright cheery colors of the exterior fabric, and I figured this family of Gators would appreciate the orange and blue interior! Happy Coloring, Joie!

Pencil Roll

Today I made this pencil roll for Annaliese to hold her colored pencils. It works just like the crayon one, but different dimensions.