O Christmas Tree

My husband and I have a tradition of adding a personalized ornament to our tree every year. We take turns each year selecting our ornament and try to do something unique. Last year my husband added a lovely hand painted ornament featuring our cats Sophie & Max. This year it's my turn and I was inspired by this lovely print from Spanish artist Blanca Gomez to make our ornament.

I cut the basic shapes from inexpensive craft felt and attached them to a sheet of white felt using wonder under. I added detail using embroidery floss and then to add heft I fused it together with a piece of heavyweight interfacing and backed it with a second sheet of white felt. I cut around the figures and finished the edge with a blanket stitch.

I think this technique would also make great gift tags, sadly there are just not enough hours in the day. Maybe next year...

Let's Go to the Movies

I've been hesitant to post this project because I haven't been able to get a decent picture. I guess these will just have to do.




My cinephile husband has turned our extra bedroom into his very own movie theater complete with blackout shades, a giant screen framed by red velvet curtains and a popcorn machine. He lovingly refers to it as "Cinema Zyberdiso." In celebration of his movie palace I made this pillow for his captain's chair.

It features vintage movie monster fabric I found on Etsy. I created a logo and embroidered it using glow in the dark thread I ordered from here. Although I wasn't able to get a good photograph of it, I love the glow in the dark thread. It was easy to work with and the effect is just what I was looking for.

Not a fan of competition, Max shows he can glow in the dark too.

Sock it to me

Finally, the set is complete. The socks reached their destination and I've been told they are hanging on the mantle with the rest of the set.

Since I didn't put names on the stockings I personalized them in other ways. Mom's stocking features gingerbread and her famous Italian cookies. Dad's stocking has a nod to his favorite baseball team -- the Red Sox, of course.

Now all that's left is to wait for Santa. I certainly hope everyone made the nice list this year.

Sneak Preview

You might remember these stockings I made for my favorite kids last year. There were supposed to be stockings for Mom & Dad too but they never quite got finished. I'm happy to report the set is finally complete and they are on the way to join the kids' stockings on the mantle just in time for Santa. I don't want to spoil the surprise but I can't resist sharing a sneak peak of my favorite details:

Goin' to the Chapel

My good friend and "god-husband" (we are the proud godparents of a brillant and talented 12 year old) is getting married today and I wanted to make something special for him and his new bride. They are registered for this beautiful bedding so I used it as a jumping off point to design a pillow with their new monogram.

I selected chocolate brown linen which I backed with a lightweight interfacing to give some stability to the stitching. For the monogram and date I used a simple satin stitch with embroidery floss. The embellishments were done with metallic thread. My original plan was to use only the metallic thread but it was so difficult to work with that I decided to start over with traditional embroidery floss rather than pulling every hair out of my head. In the end, I think it was the right choice because the combination of metallic and non-metallic floss adds dimension and interest. I hope it works with their style and finds a place in their home.

Lydia's Knitting Bag

My favorite 10 year old is very precise with her Christmas list. While she does enjoy HSM as much as any other girl her age, her list is always unique. One year she asked for a pink guitar, last year she wanted a decorative pillow for her bed and this year it was knitting bag. Specifically, a knitting bag that was big, creative, had pockets for her needles and her knitting book and was filled with bamboo needles, a crochet hook and pretty yarn.






I'm happy to report the bag was a hit. Now I just need to find time to take those knitting lessons she's promised me.

The Stockings Were Hung....

Last year my Christmas present to my best friend was a promise to design and make stockings for her entire family. I'm still working on Mom & Dad but I finished the kids' stockings in time for the holidays.

Hanging on the mantle

Griffin's snowball fight stocking

Lydia's snowboard stocking

Stella's snowman stocking

These were fun to make and the older kids gave input on the designs. The stockings are made of felt. I used fusible web for the appliques and did a blanket stitch around each piece. All the details are hand embroidered.

Lydia approved :)

The Countdown Begins

I can hardly believe Christmas is right around the corner! No tree yet as that would require packing away the sewing machine and I still have a few gifts to finish up but I was inspired to create a new Advent calendar. Mine is based on this pattern from the adorable Allsorts blog.

Supermodel

I just had to share these adorable photos of Miss Stella rocking her retro 80s tee! You may remember this shirt from my original post here. It looks so much better on the model.

So young and yet she's already learning how to deal with the paparazzi. Watch out Mom, this one's going to be a handful!

No More A.C. Moore For Me

Sometimes a coupon just isn't worth it. If you been following my blog, you may remember this crosstitch piece adapted from Charley Harper's work.



Sadly, this picture is all that remains after I took it, along with two other pieces, to A.C. Moore for framing. Of the three pieces I took in only one was returned in acceptable condition. The second piece was damaged (a thread was pulled out) and then "repaired" without my permission (the offending thread was cut from the front of the piece!!!) after I was advised to leave it at the store so a manager could review the damage. The third piece was lost entirely.

Despite repeated promises, I was never once called by the store regarding my order. I had to initiate all phone calls, even after leaving home, cell and work contact numbers. On a positive note I will say the store manager did immediately refund my entire framing order and offer free framing on any item of my choice --clearly, not an acceptable option. I choose instead to accept $250, the maximum allowable amount, for my missing artwork.

What I found most disturbing about the entire experience was that when I went to pick up my order the clerks at the framing desk were sympathetic and said my experience was not uncommon and that they have had a number of similar problems with the company they send artwork to for framing. Gee, if you keep losing/damaging your customers' artwork, perhaps it's time to find another vendor.

Anyway, just a heads up in case you are planning on having anything framed. If it's worth more than $250 to you, you probably don't want to take it to A.C. Moore.

80s embroidery

Spoiler Alert! If you know someone named Stella who is having her first birthday party this weekend, you might want to skip this post.

Honestly, it's been a busy few weeks on the crafting front and I had initially decided that I would purchase a gift for Miss Stella, but then I fell in love with Stitchado's unicorn embroidery design and decided it would be perfect for a fashion forward one year old. And, since the unicorn brought on a serious 80s flashback I couldn't resist creating a Strawberry Shortcake design to go along with it.

Embroidering on knit fabric was quite a challenge. I attempted to work with a t-shirt stabilizer but found it a bit unwieldy so in the end I just used a small hoop and tried to be mindful of the fabric tension making sure it was taut but not too stretched out. They are definitely not perfect but fortunately the cuteness factor of the designs covers up a multitude of sins.

If anyone has tips or suggestions for embroidering on knit fabrics please leave them in the comments. I'm thinking these might also be cute on t-shirts for older girls.

The Big Reveal

Luke Wiley's mom, photo courtesy of Brenda

The secret can now be revealed. The bluebonnets shown here are featured on my friend Kari's new diaper bag. She's a proud Texan living in Boston and I wanted the bag to reflect her roots. For those of you who don't know, bluebonnets are the official flower of Texas. As a native New Englander, I have not seen many (or any) bluebonnets so I was a little afraid my artistic interpretation might not translate but I'm thrilled to report that they were instantly indentified by the transplated Texans in attendance. What a relief, y'all!

Here's a closer look at the bag, complete with changing pad and case. I used Amy Butler's "nappy bag" pattern. It goes together pretty quickly (if you leave out the embroidery) and as with all Amy Butler patterns, the directions are explicit and easy to follow. Also I like that the paper pattern pieces are sturdy and hold up to repeated usage (this is my 4th nappy bag this year!).

For those of us without infants, this bag would be a good size for the gym or the beach. Obviously, I would eliminate the bottle pockets and changing pad, although a modified version of the case might be perfect for stowing a pair of flip flops.

Sneak Peek

Here's a sneak peek of a larger project that I can't share just yet. I designed the bluebonnets and embroidered them by hand. It was particularly challenging because a transferred pattern would not show up on the dark fabric so I had to do the embroidery freehand. I won't lie, there was a lot of cursing along the way but in the end it's pretty close to how I had envisioned it.

More details on the finished project soon.