Digitized Christmas Ornament

Hi! I have been working on the Christening gown and have it almost done! Everyday I hoped I would be finished so I could post pictures and now a week has gone by with no posts. So, I am just going to share something else I've been working on until I can show you the finished dress (and it is gorgeous!)

I saw this pattern for felt ornaments on ebay. The designs are so simple and are meant for hand embroidery.

I thought it would be easy to do something similar with machine embroidery. This is my version that I digitized. I don't have a stitchout yet, but I hope to try it out after I finish THE DRESS.
The design will be stitched on ecru felt, then placed onto tan felt for the tan buttonhole heart stitching. I thought it would make a quick ornament to tie onto homemade cookie trays or presents. I can probably make 2 or 3 in a 6x10 hooping. I hope to be back tomorrow or Friday with pictures of the dress!

Christening Gown Progress

This week I finished the smocking on the Christening gown. Here is the yoke before I cut it.

Here it is after cutting it to size (oh, I hate cutting through all those hours of handwork!) I intend to run a silk ribbon between the 2 cable rows.

I also stitched together the fancy band, which will go at the bottom of the skirt. A ruffle will be under that.

I chose a Swiss embroidery and French lace that coordinated well. They both have a zigzag floral pattern. I was very, very pleased with the fancy band, until...

 

I put it next to the embroidery on the skirt of the gown. You really can't tell from this photo, but the thread on the embroidery is a "winter white" - just a speck off white. The thread on the Swiss is a very bright white and they look terrible together. I will be re-doing a new fancy band with French laces only. Oh, well, this fancy band will be beautiful for a little girl's dress another time.

As with so many projects, it is 2 steps forward, one step back...

Birthday Pillowcases

October is a month with a lot of birthdays for us. My son Davy turned 8 and my Mom turned 20-something (again). My kids also have several friends with birthdays this month. For one Davy's friends, I embroidered this pillowcase to wrap around her gift instead of wrapping paper. 

The flowers are from Oma's Place and I don't remember which alphabet I used. I thought it looked nice and girly. I'm always happy with Oma's Designs.

 

This set of 2 diamond-monogrammed pillowcases was for my Mom's birthday. She bought me my embroidery machine a few years ago, so I always try to make her something for holidays. She kept asking me for a diamond monogram, but I couldn't find one I liked at a low price. This one is from Jolson's and it stitched well, though I had some trouble aligning the diamond when I did : PLL, as was my initial plan. I need to email them my question.

I did some work on the smocking of the Christening Gown this week and I'm hoping to finish the smocking and block out the yoke tomorrow. Once I do, I'll be back with pictures. Have a great weekend!