Valentine T-shirt for Andy!

When I saw this cute design at Embroitique, I knew I wanted to stitch it on a shirt for Andy. I love how machine embroidery makes it so quick and easy to make a special outfit for holidays.

I started with a $3 red t-shirt from Walmart. I love their plain Garanimals for embellishing. They are soft and inexpensive.
I was a little disappointed with a bit of white bobbin thread showing on the brown words, but I think it was just a heavy design for a knit. I did stabilize it thoroughly with a crisp tear-away stabilizer on the back and a WSS on the top.

After washing, I fuse this soft mesh stabilizer to the back to make it comfy. I love this stuff!! I'm hoping to start on Easter outfits next. My theme is spring green and brown this year.

Quick Josefina Dress

I whipped up a quick dress for my cousin's daughter's birthday! She has the American Girl Doll Josefina. The pattern is by Ellie Inspired: Mini Prairie Girl. I was lucky to catch it on sale for $1 recently! What's cool about this is that it's a one-piece dress, but I made the top and skirt from different fabrics, to make it look like separate pieces.

The back closes with narrow velcro. I added some elastic at the waist to cinch it a bit. I would have liked to add a sash of some kind, but I ran out of time.

I'm starting to think about an Easter outfit for Andy. Hopefully, I'll start working on it soon.

One of a Kind Cupcake LOGO

I digitized a business logo this week! Wait, it's not what you're thinking. This logo is for a virtual business my daughter and her friend started for their high school economics course! What a fun project! They had to make a business plan, presentation, and "props" for their mid-year exam. The girls had fun with this, choosing to run a cupcake bakery. They are working on some sample cupcakes and cake pops to hand out, too. I bet theirs is the favorite presentation!!
My part in all of this was to digitize and stitch the logo my daughter designed, here:

And here's my stitched version. I really had fun doing this and learned some new digitizing techniques in Embird. I used column-fill for the gray lines on the cupcake papers and I used a feathered-line for the detail lines on the frosting. I moved the company name underneath the cupcakes to make it more rectangular. This was stitched in the 4x4 hoop with about 15000 stitches, EACH.

I say each, because I had to make 2 shirts. Thank goodness they were working in a small group!! My daughter was thrilled with the results and I hope it helps them get an A+!!

Dancing Veggie Dishtowel

This was a quick stitch earlier this week for a friend of mine: Amy! Her little girl is in Andy's preschool class and we have been getting them together. She is really nice and likes vintage things like me, so I thought this would fit the bill. This is a design I digitized a year or two ago and it is still my favorite one that I've done.
What I'm working on this week: a soft fleece nightshirt for Andy, getting back to my pattern drafting, pillowcases, etc. Back soon with more projects!!

Fun with Felties!

So, tomorrow finally came and I got to play with these felt hair clips. I have had a lot of fun doing these. I get an idea and I go digitize it- so I have a bunch more to test out! Here's what I did so far:

Here are some closer views:

These birds are from DigiStitches. They come with the clippie cover with a branch and egg nest. Their design was a springy robin's blue, but I did red cardinals for winter.

These are 2 that I did myself. The owl on a branch looks cute in many colors. The hippo is a possibility for Valentine Card favors for Davy. His class "mascot" is a hippo, so I thought of doing hippo hair felties for the girls and pencil toppers for the boys. Our school does not allow any food items at all, so it is a challenge!

I digitized these flowers, too. These have to be the simplest design ever, but I think they are so cute. Any color would be great for these!!

 Chickens, of course!! I digitized these and I love them. I added the eggs to the clip covers, too. I was trying to decide what to do for Andy's class for Valentine's day, but he insisted on the chickens. I was thinking of printing a card with something like: "I'm not chicken to say Happy Valentine's Day!" What do you think??

These ice skates are from DigiStitches. I haven't quite finished them. The paper clips need to be glued in for the skate blades and they get a pompom on the toe and a tiny ribbon bow at the top of the laces. These have the clip right in the back- no separate piece. I love these, too!! I want to make more of these!
Coming up this week: finish Josefina's peasant dress for a birthday party tomorrow. some pillowcases, and an entry for Project Run & Play week 1. Busy, busy, but fun!!

Digitizing, but not Stitching!

Well, every day of the new year, I waited to post, thinking I would get something stitched tomorrow. But you know what they say, "tomorrow never comes!" I did finish a canvas tote for Davy's winter clothes. I also started a Josefina dress for my cousin's daughter's birthday.
I've been having fun playing with Embird making some felt hair clip designs. I am thinking about stitching a bunch for my little boy's Valentine's cards. Here's what I've done:

I made these chickens because of my little pets: Bennie, Shelly, and Blackie.

 I did simple flowers and I found some tiny buttons to add to the center.

I did these strawberries awhile ago, but I really like them. That is, except all the jump stitches from seed to seed!

These little owls will be cute in all sorts of colors. I have a pile of felt squares ready to go: tomorrow!!