In the Hoop Sewing Center & Accessories

I really love this new machine embroidery set I designed.

My In the Hoop Sewing Center & Accessories Set 

includes several components.

The 'Sewing Center' is included in 2 sizes.

There are 2 pockets - one for a seam ripper and the other for a small pair of scissors.

It's a pincushion and can hold spools of thread that are usable and removable.

A Scissor Sheath and fun Scissor Tag is also included

The set has a handy Needle Case and Needle Organizer.

 This Button Card gift card holder is perfect for a sewing, embroidering or crafting friend.

This set is great for travel, classes, gifting, etc.

You can read more about this set on my site here:

Embroidery Garden

Chicken Pincushion

After a busy 2013, I've been cleaning my sewing room.

Going through cabinets, drawers, etc and purging.

I can actually see the floor now :)

I came across these blocks I made several years ago in a drawer. I used to save just about every scrap I had thinking . . . I can use that for something. I did use the scraps to make these blocks then got bored and stashed them away.

When I found them a few days ago, I immediately thought of the old chicken pincushions.

I have a couple that I use almost daily. They were made long ago and have seen better days.

I threaded up my sewing machine and whipped this one out in no time.
Cluck, cluck

. . . wonder what other treasures I will find as I continue cleaning 

Santa brought me a . . .

Heat Press!!

Christmas came a bit early when my husband bought me a heat press.

I've wanted one for a while.

This is my first project - a personalized Santa bag for our grandson, Ethan.

I love how it turned out.

I made the bag from duck (canvas) to last many, many, years.

I'm hoping it brings fun memories for Ethan as he grows up and hopefully lasts for him to use it for his kids :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

The T-Shirt Quilt

It took awhile, but the quilt is finally finished.

I worked on it off and on for close to a year.

It was made using 30 of my oldest son's race shirts.

David is a runner, marathoner and ironman.

Each shirt was washed and cut apart dividing them into fronts & backs.

I rough cut the fronts to around 15"x15" then ironed a lightweight fusible stabilizer (Pellon) to the backsides.

All the shirts were then cut to 14"x14".

The blue sashings were cut to 2 1/2" and I stitched 6 rows of 5 blocks each.

I had a local lady quilt it on a longarm machine.

She did a wonderful job on it.

I cut a continuous strip of binding 2 1/2" wide and machine stitched it around the quilt. I had to stitch it at the kitchen table to support the quilt.

The finished quilt measures approximately 80" wide x 95" long.

My son loved it.

I've very proud of all of his accomplishments!

Snowballs!

Is it too cold to go outside? Are the kids bored with their Christmas toys already?

Let them have a snowball fight inside with our soft Snowman Snowballs.

These spherical snowballs have cute embroidered faces and are easy to make with our included pattern.

We’ve also included a fun tag design and storing idea.

 

You can view more photos and read more about this fun set on my web site HERE.



Sock Monkey - Whoo Wha!

You might remember the Memory Bears I made my cousin's kids after my Uncle (their Grandfather) passed away using his old shirts.

Well, one of the girls found a pair of his socks and wanted a sock monkey made from them.

I've never made one before but knew I was going to try :)

 

I used the instructions from Craft Passion. They have some adorable sock monkeys on their site.

 

Here's how mine turned out. I decided to make him a hat from fleece and use some of the leftover buttons from the shirts on it.

 

I ♥ him!

Creative Kindness Hats

I used one of the free patterns from Nancy's Notions to make these Creative Kindness Hats for a friend going through chemo & radiation.

 

The hats were very quick & easy to stitch.

 

 I chose to make the Basic Cuff hat and embellished 2 of them with flowers made from scraps of blizzard fleece left from making the hats.

I made the flowers into pins so they could be removed.

 

 

Thanks to Nancy's Notions for offering this great pattern.

 

Sewn Gift Bags

I bought this pattern from Fabrications by Doris back in the Spring.

It has 2 sizes of gift bags in it. They were easy and fun to make.

I like the fused embellishments you can add to them, but the next time I make them I want to embroider monograms on the fronts.

I like how they're sturdy enough to stand up on their own and absolutely love the grommets for the ribbon handles.

The possibilities are endless with fabric choices.

Memory Bears

One of my uncles died back in December. He was my favorite :)

My aunt came to visit recently and brought me several of his shirts.

She wants me to make bears for each of their grandkids from them. There are 2 boys & 3 girls.

Here are the bears I made for the boys.

I used an old McCalls pattern (#2271)

I cut the collars off the shirts and hemmed the bottom edge of them.

They buttoned around the neck and fit perfectly.

My uncle was a volunteer fireman. His fireman patches are sewn on the bellies :)



I sewed pockets from the shirts onto the back side of the bears.

My aunt will write notes to each of the kids and put a photo of them with my uncle inside the pocket.

I think they turned out pretty special. They went out in the mail today.

I'll start the ones for the girls soon. I'm thinking about adding raggy flowers to them using leftover scraps.

Felted Slippers

I've made 2 pairs of these felted slippers and I love them! They're so warm and comfy.

I took an online class @ Craftsy with Betz White. They're very easy to make and stitch up quick.
You 'felt' old wool sweaters by washing them in hot water & soap. They become dense and don't ravel.
The ribbing on the bottom edge of the sweater is used for the cuff on the slippers.

On the striped pair I used jiffy grip on the soles. I embellished them with scraps left from the sweater.

I need to hit the thrift stores for more sweaters!

Burlap Holiday Stockings

I love all the burlap stockings I've seen popping up all over the internet. The natural, organic look & feel is perfect for my Holiday decorating this year.
I want things to blend in with my decor. I'm trying to stay away from the traditional Christmas red and green this year.

The burlap was very easy to work with. I used the natural color and a nice soft green burlap. Paired with a crisp white textured cuff really makes them pop.

I embellished them with burlap flowers and leaves and a large button. Twine makes the perfect hanging loop.

I also made a burlap table runner and will try to post a photo of my Thanksgiving table next week.

Autumn Tree

I wanted something on a large scale for my dining room table. Something that could be used Fall through Thanksgiving. Something different.

Here's what I'm calling my 'Autumn Tree'. It's full of craftiness.

It's a 4' Christmas Tree decorated with fabric pumpkins I made from upholstery scraps, with branches for stems and leaves cut from a felted green wool sweater.

The garland is strips of burlap I frayed and sewed end to end. I also added a berry garland for color.

After painting little wooden pieces for the signs, I added the sayings I cut from vinyl on my Cricut. After drilling holes in them, I attached them to the tree with twine.

I wrapped a pale gold color sheer curtain panel around the bottom to hide the stand and finish it off.

I ♥ it!

The DIY Dish Mannequin Pincushion

The girls at DIY Dish created a cute dressform pincushion.

I just had to make one.

After digging through my stash and not coming up with any fabric I wanted to use, I printed my own. I scanned part of the instructions from an old pattern. I printed it onto Crafter's Image Photo Transfer Paper and cut out the pieces.

It was simple to sew. I added a thimble for the 'head' and cut up an old tape measure to dress up the waistline.
A candlestick from the thrift store is used for the base.

Ruffled Bracelet Project

My Ruffled Bracelet project is quick & easy to make.

It would make a great 'learn to sew' project for girls.

You can download my PDF instructions from my web site, Embroidery Garden
Click on Free Projects and look on page 2.

Click Download at the bottom right to save the PDF to your computer.

iPad Purse

I recently got an iPad 2 and love it! I take it everywhere with me.

I keep it in a leather case to protect it, but I wanted some type of purse to put it so I could have quick access to it, but still be hands free.

This is what I came up with. I love the sleek, modern look of this purse. The hardware really sets it off.


The front is quilted and the back has a large pocket. A magnetic snap secures the tab closure allowing for quick access to my iPad.

I used one of my Round Key Chains files for the monogram on this purse.

My iPad Purse is easy sewing and photo instructions are included.

Check it out on my website HERE

Stuffy Owl Design/Pattern Now Available

'Stuffy' makes a great friend for a little one or a cute home decor item for someone older or anyone whOO loves owls.

The finished owl measures approximately 10" x 10".

This project combines machine embroidery & machine sewing.

You can find Stuffy HERE

Stuffed Owl . . . whOO

I made this owl from felt & fabric.

The eyes are machine embroidered and I used a decorative stitch to sew on the belly section and the thin felt strips.

Stuff it with love and it's ready for hugging ♥

I may draft a pettern and offer him for sale.

Frayed Layered Flowers

I'm experimenting with some quick to stitch frayed flowers.
They will be made on an embroidery machine.

Here's how the first one turned out.

These flowers can be used for hair clips, on headbands, to decorate totes, shirts, packages, create magnets, pins, etc.

I want to come up with a few more styles, then release them as a set.

♥ Huggable Hoot ♥

I recently digitized some sets of custom machine embroidery 'owl eyes' for Melissa.
She creates the most adorable stuffed owls she calls Huggable Hoots.

There's a cute story behind the owls that you can read in her profile.

Each one has a name and she gives you a choice of eye styles for your custom made Hoot.

Melissa sells her Huggable Hoots on etsy HERE
Check out all her cute baby items.

This is the Huggable Hoot she sent me! I ♥ him.

Curtains for Mom ♥

Back in Jan. when Alex graduated & moved, we switched my Mom's room with his.

It's got a brighter window and the room is a bit larger. I finished up these curtains last week & made the small matching bathroom curtain today.


She loves the black & white damask rage now :) and I love grommets.

The bedrooms are a jack & jill style ( connecting bathroom ) so I like the flow of having the same curtain fabric in both rooms. I also made a curtain from the same fabric for the small bathroom window.

I've got a little fabric left that I could make either a 20x20 pillow or 2 14x14 pillows. I'll wait until I have some coupons for JoAnns for the forms.