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,  

An Apple A Day

I wish I had my camera for the look on the recipients face when she opened my Thank You gift to her. She was sooooo happy, especially since she purchased a Cricut Explore for her daughter. The "oooos", "ahhhhs", and "I love it", were a sure sign to me that she really loved this gift.

The colleague I made this for is a true saint. I admire her caring nature. She is one of the most hard-working and loved member of our staff. She enjoys things that are created and made with a special intent in mind.

So here goes.....
This is the Thank You card in a box from Dreaming Tree.  The basic bottom and top of a box for notes is below.

The box design comes together with a red and green accent  shown below. 

The envelopes were my favorite.

Here are the cards. What a perfect gift for a soul that really appreciates everything done for her? She always writes thank you cards to everyone who does something for her, so I wanted to give her some special cards.

A gift box of cards to send to her special someone(s).

And here is the extra special touch of bling.  The self-adhesive jewels gave this project that "umph" it needed to really stand out.

It took me a couple of tries and an email to Dreaming Tree to get this project right. I love it, because my friend loved it. 

I can't wait to try more projects from the Dreaming Tree site. 

Lessons Learned: 

1. When making paper projects, it is really important to create folds perfectly. 

2. If something seems"off", question it. Find a solution to make it right. 

The original tutorial had the red of the apple on the part of the card that people write their sentiment on. I changed that. I put the red part of the apple on the same side as the cut of the apple was made. I wrote to the company and they were very receptive to my constructive criticism.

3. Do your own thing. When using a commercial file, add your own touches and make it your own.

What paper projects have you done for a special friend? How did they come out? 

Have a great day,