Promote Your Brand with Adorable Kids!

My husband recently started working for Onyx Group. Last week he got his hands on the digitized logo and sent it my way. I was anxious to test stitch the design, so guess who got a new t-shirt!!

(Special thanks to Sarah for letting me use this picture!)
The embroidery design is actually the pocket logo for adult shirts, but it looks great centered on a 2T shirt!

The Onyx shirts also include a tiny version of their signature dot on the back below the collar, so I added that to Dashiell's shirt, too.

I took Dashiell by the office wearing his new shirt -- he was quite the hit. Everyone loved seeing a 2 year old wear their brand. :)  While there I confirmed that it was alright for me to play around with the design and another idea, because I knew what was next...
When Annaliese saw Dashiell's shirt, her first question was, "Where did he get that?" It was quickly followed up with, "I want one, too!"
I felt like for a size 7 shirt though, the logo was too small to be centered and too big to be in the pocket area. So I decided to create an applique design of the Onyx dot and use the already-digitized name in the center, just like their logo:

 We were all pleased with the results!

And here they both are, showing off the back:

 

Now I just need to be sure they have Daddy's business card in their pocket so when someone asks, "What is Onyx?" they can whip one out. :)

Recreating a logo

Recently I was asked to add embroidery to a Build-A-Bear shirt for someone trying to recreate a particular outfit. I was up for the challenge, so she gave me the BAB shirt as well as the shirt with the logo I was going to imitate. It turned out to be a pretty quick project! I used Embird alphabet #16 for the word Angel. It's not exactly the same font, but very close. I digitized the little halo to go on the A.

After I delivered the shirt, I learned the story behind the bear and his outfit, which brought tears to my eyes. This little project quickly became one of my all-time favorites. I am very blessed to be able to work on custom items that are meaningful to the recipient.

Party Favors!

For Annaliese's birthday I took her and two buddies to Lizette's Great Beadginnings for a beading class. As a party favor I made these cute drawstring bags for them to keep their new jewelry in:

Now, drawstring bags aren't all that complicated to make. But before spending brain power thinking about how to construct one, I decided to do a quick google search to see if there was a free tutorial out there. I found one that was AWESOME! Go check out this step-by-step tutorial (including great pictures) by Chica and Jo. I followed it exactly and love how they turned out.

I used Embroidery Boutique's "Got Beads?" design for the bead frame, but omitted the text and added their names instead with Embird Alphabet #38. Annaliese really wanted me to use variegated thread. I had tons of purple, and thankfully I had *just* enough of the pink and blue left to do it! It's hard to tell in these pictures, but the lime green fabric is sparkly, so these are extra pretty. :)

 

Here's a picture of their girls wearing their new necklaces and showing off their bags! (You can read more about Annaliese's shirt here and Kylie's shirt here.)

Happy Birthday, Annaliese!

Today my girl turned seven!!

I've already shared with you her birthday shirt -- she was involved with the whole process of picking the design and fabrics, so it was no surprise. What she didn't know is that I made a couple coordinating items. First, I made a matching hairbow. I used Button Cupcake Felt Stitchies design from GG Designs, but instead of stitching on a button, I ironed on a "7" cut out of the same material I used on her shirt.

I also made a cupcake shirt for her American Girl doll, using the same felt stitchies design. I debated for a while, but opted not to put a "7" on Anna's shirt -- I don't know how old Annaliese thinks she is since she just got her at Christmas. :) This is actually a newborn onesie (purchased for Dashiell but never worn) that I chopped off. Notice I didn't even take the time to hem it?!

 

Annaliese was thrilled with the little extras that she unwrapped today and enjoyed the whole outfit. Now I need to run put her clothes in dryer so they are clean for school tomorrow! :)

Happy Birthday, Kylie!

One of my daughter's best buddies had an American Girl themed birthday party tonight. Here's what Annaliese took as a gift for Kylie (and her AG Rebecca):

Valerie had found a cute free design available at Lynnie Pinnie that I was going to use, but it only comes in the 4x4" size. That was just too small for Kylie's shirt and too big for Rebecca's shirt. So I digitized my own applique star and added the text with Thin Lizzy from 8 Claws and a Paw.

I bought the doll shirt at Michael's (it came with a pair of jeans, too). I LOVE this font -- the 1/2" size stitches amazingly well!!

Silent Auction Donation

Tonight there was a Spring Festival at my daughter's school. Each class was assigned a theme for a class basket that would be put into a silent auction. Our theme was "Car Wash." When I got the list of suggested items for donation, the one that jumped out at me was travel mug. :)

I used Embroidery Boutique's Owl Branch Applique and added the text with Embird Alphabet #14.

Here it is sitting on the table. I don't know what the final bid was. I considered bidding myself, but then decided that was ridiculous, I can just make another one. :)

Special Deliveries

This Special Delivery onesie is particularly special.  Michelle, who is singlehandedly responsible for at least half of the ones I've done -- haven't kept track, but it's a lot :) -- well Michelle is now a grandmother! So I had the pleasure of stitching this onesie for her granddaughter!

Michelle requested the thread color to match an adorable pair of lavender pants she had purchased. The original design is from Sew Terific Designs; I customized the design with baby's birthplace, birth date, time, weight and full name.

And here's another one I did recently but haven't shared yet:

(Big difference between those city names--Cairo vs Bentonville--as well as the babies' full names--13 letters vs 23 letters! It always stitches nicely, though!)

Monogrammed Shirt

This is the last of the five shirts Carla sent me to applique:

We used the Chunky Curlz Applique from 8 Claws and a Paw.

And that completes the package I received. BEFORE:

and AFTER!

 

Thanks for such a fun project, Carla! :)

My baby girl will be SEVEN!

According to blogger this is my 600th post! I find that absolutely unbelievable. I never dreamed when I started this blog to share my sewing projects with my moms living 900 miles away that it would turn into, well, all of this. :) Thanks for being along for the ride. And thank you for the feedback, whether publicly on the blog/Facebook or privately via email -- I really appreciate it!

I think it is very appropriate to dedicate this 600th post to my daughter and show off the shirt I made for her birthday that will be here in a little over a week. (I got it done two weeks early, go me!!)
Annaliese is going to be seven. SEVEN. I cannot believe it. I mean, go look at how little she was when I started this embroidery stuff!
Thankfully this year we were in complete agreement on the design we wanted to use, so no time was wasted picking one out. I absolutely adore the number candle cupcake appliques from GG Designs. When I showed the newly released #7 cupcake (thanks Gail!!) Annaliese swooned and sealed the deal. We bought a cute pair of capris and sat down with my fabric stash to find matching fabrics.

We love the results!! The sprinkle fabric was a must in Annaliese's opinion, so I'm glad we were able to make it work. :)

Sorry, no modeled picture yet... we are waiting until her actual birthday. But if you become a fan of Stitched by Janay on Facebook, you can see a picture of the birthday girl next Sunday!
Well, I may make a few coordinating items, so it's possible there will be another blog post after her birthday. But go become a fan anyway! :)