Why I love Embird, reason #919

I am not a digitizer. I've dabbled just enough to know I am going to leave that task in the hand of pros. So when a friend asks me to coordinate with a theme or fabric, I start hunting for good designs.
My friend initially asked what owl designs I had for a boy. I shared several of my favorite options. Then she showed me what fabric she was using. I knew I could piece together a really close match! What do you think?!

 I appliquéd the design on a large square of minky and shipped it off. My friend then pieced together the quilt top for her nephew:

The bulk of this design is from one owl, but I added wings from a second and feet from a third. I used so many Embird features... Splitting, rotating, removing stitches. I resized elements, adjusted pull compensation to make the width of all satin stitches the same. Then when I was done the whole thing was slightly too big. So, {gasp!} I did the unthinkable, I resized it all again! So pleased with how well Embird handled it, it turned out great.
(Also a quick shout out to technology. My friend is in Missouri. I was able to send screen shots of the embroidery design for approval, and then I snapped pics of different fabric combos messaging back and forth until we settled on a final decision. Sure, it would have been a bit easier in person, but technology makes it pretty easy to work together though separated by miles and miles!)

Then I worked through it all over again to create a smaller version for a burp cloth. Font is 8CP's Whoa Nelly.

I also put GG Designs' neck tie on a bib! Love this new chevron I bought at Appliqué Getaway!

Happy Birthday, Emily!

Today we attended a first birthday party, and my gift was a bib for Emily to wear while eating her cake!

Pink ladybug theme, so I merged this together. GG Designs' Chubby Wubby 1, MCA's Ladybug, Jolson's Hand Lettered Floss Stitch font, and one of the flutter trails from That's Sew Grammy's Just Bug Trails set (which is a nice bean stitch, I ended up stitching 2 or 3 times to match the heaving stitching of the floss stitch font).

 

Birthday designs inspired by party themes

I avoid purchasing and using designs of characters I am not licensed to sell, so when friends ask me to make a birthday shirt to match a theme, I use it as an opportunity to be creative. :)  Today I'm going to share with you two older projects that I haven't blogged about yet.
Cayden celebrated his fourth birthday in November Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle style, so I created this!

I started with 8CP's Chatty applique 4. I added triple bean stitch tackdown lines for the bands of blue knit, letting them hang out on the right side of satin stitching. I tied them in a knot and trimmed the edges. So proud of myself, *I* digitized the eyes. They aren't perfect, but got the job done! Found a free ttf that matches the TMNT logo and my MIL digitized the name for me. I borrowed my husband's action figure (yes husband, not son) to pick my green fabric. :)

The reason I have held off on blogging about this particular shirt is because a new design set from Lynnie Pinnie based on this project is in the works! The 4x4 sizes of the designs have been sent to us testers. I'll post my pictures of those tomorrow. It's really neat to see a brainstorming idea of mine come to life in the hands of a real digitizer!

A couple weeks before making Cayden's shirt, I also made a birthday shirt for Sean. His party theme was Super Mario Bros. and this is what I came up with:

I used the 6 from GG Designs' Chubby Wubby Numbers. Before starting though, I pieced together a pair of overalls by putting two strips of blue on green fabric, and then adding that to a larger piece of blue fabric. Once I had that done, I tacked it down as one big piece to trim out.

I merged in a couple embroidered buttons (plucked from LP's Cupcake design), and used Embird alphabet 30 to add his name (closest I could find to match the logo).

 Both of these were fun projects that stretched me to think outside the box and try something new!

Welcoming Baby Young

Friends of ours back home are expecting a baby boy and their shower was this weekend. Mutual friends of ours requested a couple things, and I sent a couple things from us, too!
First, this onesie. I'm confident the verse is true for many, many babies, but it is especially true for this one!

The "For this Child I have Prayed" design is from Lynnie Pinnie.

Jason and Anna's boys love the ribbon blankets I made them (Torin, Nolan), so they requested a sports themed ribbon blanket for baby Young, incorporating the Youngs' favorite teams.

The basketball corner is orange and blue for the University of Illinois (Go Illini!!) The design is from GG Designs

The football corner is crimson and black for the University of South Carolina. The design is from Lynnie Pinnie

The baseball corner is blue and white for the LA Dodgers. The design is the ball from Embroidery Boutique's Baseball Glove

And the soccer corner is red white and blue for the good ole US of A :)
(design is from LP, but not on site)

I decided to do a sports themed burp cloth. Since they aren't sharing the baby's name until he is born, I personalized it with their last name.  Helmet Design is from Lynnie Pinnie, and font is College Block Small from 8CP

Finally, a special request from one nerd dad to another.  Any guesses what this is?!?

(eh, I'll just tell you. It's the emblem on Boba Fett's arm. I digitized it myself for personal use only.)

Changing plans midstream

Well this "quick" project did not turn out like I originally envisioned, but I think it's even better!

I found this skirt at Walmart for Annaliese and picked up a blank gray shirt to go with it. I decided to just monogram the pocket area, and remembered GG Designs' free multi circles dot frame. I picked 8CP's Madison for the A, grabbed my matching threads and headed to the machine. This was my plan:

As the frame was stitching, I noticed that my stabilizer was shifting. Each of the dots stitched PERFECTLY, there was no issue with the design:

But for whatever reason (fast sloppy hooping?!) my shirt did not stay flat and I got this really poufy center. ACK!

I stopped there, I knew if I stitched the letter on top it would be permanently wrinkled and look terrible. I had to get rid of that excess knit... Reverse applique to the rescue!
I went back to my computer and digitized a small triple bean stitch circle to place inside the dot frame, and changed the size of the A slightly.
I hooped sticky stabilizer, laid down a piece of purple fabric and embroidered the A:

Then I laid the shirt back on top of my hoop, pinning in place, and stitched the triple bean stitch circle. I cut away the poofy knit, revealing smooth monogrammed fabric!

 Woo-hoo! Disaster averted!

I'm thankful that a year ago I read Tasha's blog post about using reverse applique to redeem a project. It came in handy for me on this! Go check it out: New Project: Reverse Applique at The Plaid Pineapple.

Yeehaw! Kendal is Two!

We are disappointed we can't make it to Kendal's Shindig this weekend, but that didn't stop me from making a cute shirt for her to wear :)

The applique 2 is from GG's Chubby Wubby Numbers. I borrowed the hat from 8CP's Cowgirl 1 Applique and added her name with 8CP's Clay.

First Birthday Shirts

Recently I've had the pleasure of making several birthday shirts for little friends. Today I'll share a couple First Birthday designs!
Grayson's mommy requested a cupcake with a #1 candle and her name. I was delighted to use this adorable design from GG Designs (I love her number candle cupcakes!) I added her name with 8CP's Jingle.

Annabelle's mommy requested simply a #1 candle. I used 8CP's Applique Birthday Candle Number, and added her name with Embird Alphabet #7 (to match a bib set I made last year).

Special request from my little man

Though you'd never believe it from the picture I posted last Easter, Dashiell loves his tie shirt. He wears it to church at least once a month, if not every other week. You'd think everyone has seen it by now, but it always gets a chuckle out of somebody new. :) Anyway, a few weeks ago Dashiell found himself with a dry erase marker in his hand... and the shirt has been retired. Last Sunday when I reminded him of this fact he asked, "Mom, can you make me a NEW tie shirt? With a dark brown tie? On a white shirt?" I said ABSOLUTELY! I will make applique shirts for my little man as long as he will wear them!

This is one of my absolute favorite designs, the Neck Tie Applique from GG Designs. SO simple, but just the perfect proportions, and I love that the tackdown stitches for the knot are separate from the rest of the tie so you can rotate the stripe. (If you own an embroidery machine, you need this design. And while you are there, check out that pic of baby Dashiell! My how he's grown.)
Woo-hoo!! Check out the design placement along the ribbing of the neckline!

A perk of owning embroidery software is the ability to print design templates. I use them all the time when making tie onesies and tees. I find the template to be helpful for a couple reasons. First of all -- design placement. I lay the template on the shirt exactly where I want the design to end up:

With my water soluble marking pen I put dots at the end of the axes:

Then I connect the dots to find where the center of my design should fall.

Now I am able to hoop my shirt, confident the tie will end up exactly where I want it -- just under the ribbing of the neckline.
I also use the design template to help me prep my applique fabric. I love using stripes for this design, placed at an angle. I lay my template on top of the fabric and cut a rectangle around the bottom portion of the tie. The extra fabric leftover in one of the corners of my rectangle is the perfect size for the knot of the tie, turned at a 90 degree angle! I add heat-n-bond lite to the fabric and head to my machine.

"Can I wear my new tie shirt? I'd be so handsome!"
Why, yes you can. And yes you are.

Whale themed baby gift set

Jenny asked me to make a baby gift set for their new nephew, whose room is decorated with a Jonah theme:

I picked Lynnie Pinnie's Simple Whale and my favorite font, Whoa Nelly from 8 Claws and a Paw. I used the small sizes for the bib and burp cloth and larger sizes for the hooded towel.

 Jenny also wanted a tie onesie. I LOVE making tie onesies, they just might be my all time favorite things! This design is from GG Designs. And I love this Riley Blake stripe fabric for the tie, so it was the color inspiration for the whole set!

Birthday Shirts

Two little boys I know celebrated birthdays recently and needed special shirts for their parties. :)
Brock had a John Deere themed party today:

I used Lynnie Pinnie's Tractor Applique design, coloring it as best I could to look like a John Deere. I did lots of fabric trimming on this. Since I selected a pale blue for the window and headlight, I trimmed out the green pin dot before tacking down the pale fabric, and did the same for the yellow center inside the black tire. That step really helps light colors pop!
Since I don't have Font Engine for Embird I didn't track down a ttf to match the John Deere logo, I just selected a nice 8CP sans serif font -- Alex. I used all capital letters, enlarging the B to emulate how John Deere looks. I used Embird Alphabet #2 to add the "5"

Brooks celebrated his first birthday last week. The partyware his parents selected was light blue with dots, so I used a monochromatic color scheme with my favorite simple 1st birthday design:

The "1" is from GG Designs' Chubby Wubby Numbers and I added his name with Alex from 8 Claws and a Paw.

Using fabric with lines at right angles (like these precisely placed pin dots, or stripes and ginghams) make me nervous, and I always use special care when tacking it down. Check out this tackdown!! I was so impressed I had to take a picture on my phone and email it to my MIL right away. :)

Happy Birthday, Nathan!

This may look familiar, but I promise you haven't seen it on my blog before! Earlier in the year I made a birthday shirt for a Nathan who turned three, and I recently did another! While the first one was a cowboy theme, this little Nathan had a farm themed party. He is particularly fond of black and white cows, so I created this:

The "3" is from GG Designs' Chubby Wubby Numbers. The cow is from Designs by JuJu's Barnyard Buddies set, and I added his name with the Clay font from 8 Claws and a Paw.

For those of you who do custom embroidery (and my friends who just can't get enough of my wordiness, ha!) let me explain what I do when I create a look by overlapping designs. I like to do some design editing in my software beforehand. First of all I needed to modify the precious cow from DBJJ. This was for a boy, so the flowers had to go. For space reasons I decided to remove the appliqué grass patch as well.  Nathan loves black and white cows, so within Embird I changed the colors to give his mommy an accurate preview before stitching.

Once I merged that on top of the appliqué 3, I removed the unnecessary zigzag stitches on the 3 that would be under the cow. That's relatively easy and quick to do in Embird. However, I don't bother changing the placement and tack down stitches -- that's too much work!

Instead I did creative cutting in the hoop, since I knew the red fabric on the bottom would show through the white fabric on top. I ran the placement, tackdown, and modified zigzag stitches for the "3". Then I ran the placement stitch for the cow and removed my hoop from the machine.

I trimmed out the part of the 3 that would be under the cow:

Oops, I used red thread for my placement stitches, and it WILL show through my white fabric! So I picked those stitches out, too. Note to self -- use white thread for placement stitches next time. It's a little extra work, but worth the effort! That cow is a bright white without any discoloration!

Here's a case in point from two past projects -- Without trimming away overlapped fabric:

Trimming away the overlapped fabric:

See how much better the flower looks when the fabric underneath is trimmed away? Just a little detail that I like to keep in mind. I didn't notice the problem on the first shirt until it was done.  I'm always trying to improve my final product!