Finally Finished! 13 - 12 Month Embroidered Onesies

I just love these 12 months embroidered onesies. There are so many cute baby items these days. I wish they were around when my kids were babies. 

This is one of those projects you work on a little bit at a time, put away and do something else, get it back out, put away, get back out. OK, you get my drift.
This project took so much longer than I wanted it too! It was a huge learning curve for me. I switched machines in the middle and had to learn to use a new machine by myself. I consider myself a type A, perfectionist sort of person, so whatever I did, I wanted it to be "SALE" worthy.  I believe I met that goal.

The first thing was to choose onesies that would meet a variety of sizes of infants. Even though my own kids are adults, I remember that certain brands of clothing did not fit my kids according to their age.  I consulted a dear friend who is a new Grandmom and who worked with me to determine the best combination of brands to hopefully guarantee a nice fit for each month.  These onesies are a combination of Gerber and Carter's onesies.  If you look at the picture below, you can see the difference in size of the onesies labeled for the same size. This is after prewashing both brands.

I selected some fun colors for the applique part of this project. Later on in this post, you'll see some of the fun color combinations of thread and fabric.

I began by cutting out a template of the pattern I used and then cut the fabric from the pattern.

 I hooped a sturdy stabilizer.

Then sprayed it with 505 adhesive. The company wasn't kidding when they said it does not gum up the needles. I love this product.  

I marked the onesie I was working on. And clipped it with hair clips, of all things.

 Thread color to match fabric? I love doing this.

Below is what I made in my first sitting. I created these on the Brother PE770. A wonderful, affordable, machine to learn on. 

I've since upgraded my machine to a Brother Dream Machine. I have a dear friend who helped me with that decision. I only wish she received a commission for my purchase. I love machine embroidery and applique that much I decided to upgrade and learn as much as possible before I retire; hoping this will be an additional income. 

Below are two types of scissors that are a must-have when doing embroidery work. I like the curved applique scissors (top) and the curved machine embroidery scissors (bottom). 

Now this project did not come without headaches. I did three of the monthly designs over. I chalk it up to learning about the materials, machine, and threads.

I've included a newborn onesie with this set.

All of the onesies are backed with a very soft adhesive liner. This is to prevent scratching baby's belly and chest with the inside of the embroidery.

Lesson's Learned:

1. For me, I don't like to take so long to finish projects. I need to focus on start to finish for each project I start.
2. I love the 505 adhesive spray. I ordered another can while completing this project.
3. This project was totally time-consuming and not really what I want to do. They say you learn by doing... and, yes. I did so.
4. I just love the onesie ideas for baby pictures. I just can't see myself creating these because of the time it takes.  (Sorry friends, this is a one-of-a-kind for me. :)

Do you know anyone who spends time creating embroidered onesies? I'd love to get feedback from them. Send me their contact information if you can.

Happy newborn to One-year-old baby monthly birthdays.

Popular Pineapple and New Embroidery Machine

It seems this year is the year for pineapples. I've seen them in all the craft  and home decor stores. They are a symbol of southern hospitality, which is where  I'm headed in a couple of years. For some reason, I'm liking anything to do with pineapples. I've ordered fabric, created a wall hanging, and customized an embroidery design on pineapple fabric.

Recently I upgraded my embroidery machine to a powerhouse of a machine. This is the first test project I made to begin teaching myself how the machine works. It sure has a bit of a learning curve, but I'm up to the task. The machine didn't come with an accessory bag and being the organizational, neat freak I am, I had to make one for those extra parts and pieces I'll be working with.
First is the fabric, and of course, when I found this pineapple print in Micheal's, I just had to have it. I coordinated it with a tie-dye green fabric for the lining. 

I ironed the two pieces and cut some fusible fleece to sandwich in the middle.

I next cut two lengths of fabric in order to create two bags and serged around the edge of each. 

 Folded each, just to gauge the size. 

Next is the embroidery. I chose these colors and placed a piece of fusible stabilizer on the back of where I would embroider the design.  

So here goes. The machine is now embroidering the first test of what it can do. I emailed a friend who bought the same machine and told her I was so scared of how unbelievably fast it was stitching. Oh boy, this is a great thing. It's going to take me many subsequent projects to get used the quickness of this machine. And, "Oh!", it is so much quieter than my previous machine.  

After the embroidery was finished, I proceeded to sew in the zipper and sew the sides.

This bag is so easy, once you have the zipper in, just sew up the sides. Then create a box bottom to give the bag some dimension to hold its contents.

Turn it right-side out and, voila. a cute little storage bag that can be adapted to almost anything.

Lessons learned: 

1. Don't be afraid to just dive into learning something new. Your brain will be energized and thank you for the opportunity. 

2. Mistakes are the path to learning. Choose a project where mistakes won't matter. Let yourself experience the failures and subsequent learning of your craft. 

3. I wish I stayed with the magenta color for the complete emblem on this project. I have learned to look closer at color combinations when embroidering future projects. 

My next project?  A quilt that needs to be finished and then a pineapple fabric cover for the extreme machine. 

It's Mother's Day Again

I don't mean "It's Mother's Day Again" in a derogatory way, lol, but in a celebratory way. I decided to make each of my three moms a make-up, small clutch, a whatever they want bag. I like to make them something different and creative each year. 

I chose to make them a bag from a placemat.  I belong to a FB group at https://www.facebook.com/lanunemaker .  She has made so many different bags from the Pioneer Women's placemats at Walmart. A great idea since I can purchase them for little to nothing, add a zipper, construct the bag, and voila! 

For Mother's Day, I decided to try them and add an extra special embellishment of embroidery. This was a challenge. You'll see why later in the post. 

The placemats are truly easy to use. On the first one, I did not trim the outside of the mat. It was very bulky when sewing the seams and the zipper.

For the second, I trimmed all the sides and serged them. This made it so much easier.  If you don't have a serger you can just zig-zag to finish the four edges. 

Add a zipper to each side of the bag and you are basically done. 

If you want to embroider, it must be done before you sew up the sides. 

When you eventually sew the sides, you'll have to sew across the bottom and seem to create a box style bag.

I didn't know this, but when I returned to Walmart for a second, third, or maybe fourth time, I checked the placemat section each time I went there.  I found a set of napkins that matched the bags I was making. Whoo Hooo..... Can you say a fun strap to coordinate with the bag? 

I cut 2 in strips from the napkins I thought would match the bags I've made.

I folded them on each side to meet the middle. 

Sewed each with a 1/8 seam.

Added a round and hooked it to the zipper for a coordinating zipper pull.

I gave my Mom's their gifts at our annual breakfast downtown. I think they really liked them as I judged  their faces. I added a gift certificate for a local farm/restaurant. I hope they enjoy it. 

Lessons Learned: 

1. Can you see the difference in the embroidery designs? In the first picture, the dashed stitch placement is not covered. This is because the screws on my hoop were not tight. 

This second design is much crisper because I tightened the screws to the embroidery hoop.I changed the color too. 

2. I already mentioned you should cut off the edges of the placemats and serge or zig zag the edges before you embroider or add a zipper. 

Have you made something out of a placemat? I would love to see what you have done. 

Enjoy the day,