Fall, er... wait, make that a Spring Dress!

Who says brown can't be a spring color?!

I bought this dress for Annaliese back in SEPTEMBER with every intention of making a lovely fall dress for her. Pumpkins, acorns, leaves, I don't know, but something with lots of yellows and oranges. But we had such a hot fall here in FL that it didn't get really get cool enough for long sleeves until a week before Thanksgiving, and by that time I was not going to invest my time in a fall dress anymore. I spent another month or so debating what sort of little winter character I could use with pinks and reds that could be used for Christmas and beyond... but that didn't ever happen either.
Inspired by this pretty floral fabric that happened to have a touch of brown in the print, I decided to go spring! We picked EB's Swirly for her initial on the bodice of the dress:

And used the applique flower that is in the January design set from the Applique Club:

Whew, we are done! And thankfully even though this girl seems to be getting taller everyday, this dress is still a fantastic length for her. Maybe, just maybe it will still fit next fall! And flowers bloom year round here, so it will always be in season, right?!

Matching Applique Monogram shirts

Take a look at my mini-me!

(Actually, both of my kids are really mini versions of their daddy -- they look and act just like him, it's a good thing I love him to pieces! But when we dress alike I can pretend she's a mini-me)

I had just bought myself a new pink shirt, we discovered one for her in my stash of blanks, and she started jumping up and down at the idea of matching shirts! The timing was perfect, I got to test Embroidery Boutique's new Elegant Vine Applique Alphabet on them.

My shirt uses the 6" version. I used some of my favorite fabric. It's a discontinued Riley Blake print and I only have a small piece left -- hopefully putting it on a shirt for myself will make it last forever. I can't outgrow this! ;)

Annaliese's shirt uses the 5" size. This is kind of an example for how a busy print doesn't work as well at smaller sizes. It's not quite as legible as mine (I think there is less contrast between her pink shirt than mine, as well). Either way, she likes it!

These monograms are quick to stitch, but tedious trimming! I love the results.

Baby Gifts

Here are a few baby gifts I haven't shared yet. First a set for baby Kylie:

 

Her grandma ordered this set requesting elephants and purple/aqua/gray color theme. Both elephants are from DBJJ's Roly Poly Elephant set.

For the hooded towel I used 8CP's Dancer to add her name. Her crib bedding has gray chevron so I was excited to find this ribbon!

and for the burp cloth I used EB's Chevron Circle Monogram, I thought it was a perfect pairing with the ribbon.

Here's burp cloth for Cruz:

I used I2S's Dino and Oscar font. I love this little wavy striped fabric :)

 And this burp cloth for Molly:

I used I2S's Jeremiah 29:11 add a name design, I added her name with Inspiration.

Seriously BIG Applique Name Pillow

I have only made a couple of appliqué name pillows (Kylie and Kenzie). I've wanted to do one for Annaliese but joked that hers would be the size of a body pillow since her name is so long, ha!
Then I realized she had a sad, OLD body pillow on her bed that could use a facelift. Or replacement!! So for Christmas I surprised her with a new body pillow!

I bought this super soft pillow cover at Walmart. They didn't have a lot of color options, but this worked perfectly with the current quilt on her bed. While I would have loved to use nine different fabrics, the reality is a) I would never be able to decide on nine different fabrics, and b) my mom made this quilt as a high school graduation gift for me (ahem, 20, yes TWENTY!! years ago) so nothing in my fabric stash was really going to work anyway. I did however have this one perfect fabric that had all four colors from the quilt incorporated in it, so it won!

Next I had to pick a font. I wanted something with some curls and whimsy. I wanted lowercase letters. I wanted the A to be at least 6" tall. And I wanted zig zag stitch because frankly I WAS OUT OF TIME. I started this after 8pm on December 23. Not so smart for a Christmas gift. :) But Embroidery Boutique's Swirly Applique Alphabet fit the bill! So I got to work.

First I merged it all together in Embird. Thirty-three inches wide! I intentionally placed the letters at varying heights so I didn't have to worry about precise placement on this multihooping project.

Then I saved the design in four 6x10 hoopings: An - na - lie - se. I printed templates, taped them together and laid it on the pillow. Here's an in progress picture after two hoopings:

If I were to do this project again, I would take out the side seam on the pillow and then sew it back up. But I really wanted to get to work and wasn't sure I had the time to mess with that. So I did all four hoopings by turning the pillowcase inside out and stitching through the zipper opening on one end. (I should have gotten a picture of that!) A magnified version of doing a onesie, but with LOTS of extra bulk. :)

I did use three different thread colors for the zig zag stitch. And one thing I did to save myself some headache... I waited and trimmed the letters after the zig zag was done. I had such a hard time getting the hoop on in the first place that I didn't want to mess with taking it off and on. So I had to trim carefully to not snip the zig zag stitch. Thankfully the plush factor of the minky-like pillowcase is very forgiving.

 

And I'll admit it was NOT fun removing the tearaway on the inside. I wish my 6x10 hoop gripped polymesh better, it just doesn't stay taut for some reason.
But it was all worth it because her reaction was priceless. It was one of her favorite gifts!

I don't think anyone could pay me enough to do this again. But as an embroidery friend pointed out, surely I'd do it again for Annaliese. :) If she wants a new one someday with new bedding, I'm sure she could talk me into it. But not anytime soon!!

Misc Monogramming, the applique edition

And here are a random assortment of things I monogrammed this fall, with applique!
I got to test a new applique alphabet for EB. I really didn't have time to do it, but when I saw the preview image of the T I made time -- pretty Ts that don't look like Js are hard to come by! I love the way my monogram looks in this font!

Happy Day Scribble Alphabet is a quick stitch since it's not satin stitch. I really like this style, this is currently my favorite shirt.

A while back Cristy added an alternate left D to the Natural Circle embroidery font, and now the I2S Circle Monogram applique set has been updated as well! I tested it for her on a turtleneck for Dashiell, and miracles of miracles he has actually worn it! ;)

Mid-fall there was an I2S customer having troubles with a particular design so I wanted to sew a sample in effort to troubleshoot with her. I considered the season, the letter and my stash of blanks and realized Sawyer was the perfect candidate for my project. I was able to help a customer and he got a cool shirt to wear while cheering on the Noles!

 

 This is I2S's Football Applique Alphabet, beautiful as always!

Dashiell's little friend had a birthday party recently, so I used 8CP's Snowflake Monogram on this little shirt for her

This sparkly fabric is perfect for snowflakes!

 A coworker of my husband is going to have a baby boy very soon. He will be named after his grandfather and father, so as the third they are going to call him Tripp. I made this monogrammed set as a shower gift:

 

I used Lynnie Pinnie's Stitchy Font:

Misc Monogramming

Here are a random assortment of items I monogrammed simply with embroidery throughout the fall!
Barb contacted me wanting keyfobs for herself and her husband. I used LP's Taylor font for their names, and DS's keyfob design.

Marci asked me to monogram a couple robes for her:

I used I2S's Fancy Circle monogram

I monogrammed this towel for my friend Amy using EB's Striped Lexi Monogram Alphabet

I made a stay-put towel for Cherri using EB's Chandler Chevron Alphabet

 

I monogrammed Annaliese's apron (and her doll's apron too!) using 8CP's Satin Split Curlz font

Sabrina asked me to make a keychain for her niece to attach to a lunchbox. I used I2S's Behind These Hazel Eyes

This keychain was ordered for a new college student, we incorporated all three school colors by using 8CP's Two Color Script:

Tarika asked me to monogram a few baby items. Aren't these bibs elegant?

I used I2S's Covered By Your Grace for Joshua

and I2S's Nick for Damon III

and I2S's One Thing for Kendall

A few more Christmas shirts

Embroidery Boutique had a couple last minute Christmas design ideas and I got to test this one (Deer Lights) on a shirt for my niece. There are a LOT of reindeer designs out there to choose from that are all adorable, but this is kind of elegant, don't you think? I added a real bow to make it a bit more girly. :) She sure looked sweet in it!

Laura requested truck designs for her boys:

 I used Applique Market's Truck with Tree design, and added their names with I2S's Cinnamon Cake.

 ...and as I look back over photos from the last few months, here's a design I tested for EB in SEPTEMBER, never posted pictures of, and never found a little boy to wear this! It's on a long sleeved 3T in case anyone wants it for next year. :)

 

This is Embroidery Boutique's Santa Gator design!