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.