Delilah's Momma - Work, Play, Eat!: embroidery machine

Showing posts with label embroidery machine. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Bowling Dress, Popover Tutorial Update, and a Question.

I think I am addicted to the Popover Dress pattern. I just made another one. Here is the "Bowling Dress".

The retro bowling fabric purchased from Whipstitch on their Etsy shop. I used premade bias tape also purchased from this Etsy seller. Free pattern for the dress is here. My tutorial with pictures following the pattern is here.

I HAVE AN UPDATE to the TUTORIAL! -- The cutting instructions have you fold the fabric selvedge to selvedge, and the main pattern piece on that center fold. BUT - for the smaller sizes, you don't have to waste so much fabric. As it is, you need a yard of fabric, but really, you can just use a half. Instead of placing the pattern along the center fold, fold the fabric again. So instead of it being folded in half, it's now folded into quarters. Place the fabric along the QUARTER folds. So when you cut, the two main fabric pieces are side by side.

I got this fabric in the mail (superfast! I ordered Saturday and received it Monday!) and had to make Delilah a little outfit from it immediately. You see, her Daddy is quite the bowler, and I figured he would get a kick out of this little dress. I do actually own some other patterns now. But I needed some quick satisfaction with this dress. I wanted to get it done, so I could show my dear husband, and dress up my dear child. I know this pattern so well now I think if I were stranded on a desert island with some fabric and a needle & thread, I would occupy my time making Popover Dresses!

There is one other Popover Dress in the works in my sewing room. Then I think I will have to stop making them for a while. To be honest, Delilah spends most of her time in playclothes these days. She's an active toddler and we dress her to move and shake and have fun. She's at an age where she is experimenting with coloring and paints, gets a little dirty in the playground, and she needs freedom to be herself - an awesome constantly moving toddler!

There will be more Popover dresses in the future. The pattern has bigger sizes so it will be in my repertoire for a while! As Delilah grows I suppose I will be using more "sophisticated" prints. But for now, these whimsical prints are just so much fun!

So - now - a question.

I purchased from Embroidery Library a little set of classic cars embroidery patterns for my embroidery machine. I stitched them out on to squares of muslin so I could see how they turned out.

And I love them.

But now what to do with them? I thought about sewing these into little cocktail napkins as a gift for my brother. Perhaps stitching one in hot pink on a shirt for Delilah.

I sure do love machine embroidery, but I have a hard time knowing WHAT I should be stitching on and WHERE to place the designs I stitch.

I would love suggestions!

Later skater,

Janimal

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Exec Producer Dog, Toy Story Pillow & Other Stuff!

I'm so happy today! USA & England both advance in the World Cup!
Here are some pictures of other things making me happy today!

First up, our doggy got a new kerchief. Sometimes he goes to work with my husband when he's in a "dog-friendly" editing studio. We figured if he's going to work in broadcasting, he needs a title. So here he is:

(He doesn't like getting his photo taken.) The kerchief is a corner of a sack cloth towel. One cut and a quick run through the machine and Ta-Dah!

This weekend we had dinner with some dear friends. Before dinner, they took their two (awesome) sons to see Toy Story 3. Since I so seldom get to make stuff for boys, during Delilah's Sunday naptime I decided to ignore the dustbunnies I should have been tending to and rushed to my sewing room. Here is Woody stitched out on a badly stuffed pillow.

Each boy got a pillow (both with Woody, I almost did a Buzz Lightyear but didn't want to cause a stir with two different pillows) and on the back I included their name. Here they are, right before we rushed out of the house. Notice they haven't been sewed shut.

I took a needle and thread and stitched them closed in the car on the ride over. Which I don't recommend. Ouch! The boys seemed to like them. Which I liked.

Anyway, I just love having an embroidery machine. I recently received a bunch of hand-me-down shirts for Delilah and decided they would be perfect for embellishment with my machine. It's not as scary that I might mess up my project when the supplies are free!

First up - a classic Minnie Mouse on a pink top.

I do NOT like that there is a pacifier in this photo. They're still around for bedtime only. But if you can ignore the pacifier, check out those pants. I made those too. And the bear. The bear was cut from a sheet, stitched by hand, and stuffed with cotton balls when I was bored over Thanksgiving weekend at my in-laws and foraged the house for supplies. He's a bit funny looking but Delilah loves him, which makes my heart happy.

Now in this picture, we have another hand-me-down shirt with a balloon embroidery on it. (design from http://www.urbanthreads.com/) Notice my excellent mothering skills that my toddler is wielding her toothbrush.

And now scrap all that good mothering nonsense when you see this next photo.

Yep, she's in the dog's crate.

Time has been limited so no new tutorials these days. I have some in mind, so please don't give up on me. Thanks for stopping by!

Later skater,
Janimal

Monday, May 24, 2010

Embroidery Madness

Embroidery madness at Janimal's house!

Last weekend, I had some organizing and rearranging to do in my sewing/craft room. When I am in that room, I want to be creating -- not working! Thanks to my embroidery machine, I got to do both at once! It whirrs away stitching while I putter about.

First up -- I made a little tote bag for a little girl who is about to turn 3 years old. (This tote is actually about 11 inchs wide - small!)

Now I just have to figure out what to put inside the bag for her gift! This tote bag follows the construction of THIS TUTE on Sew Mama Sew, just with smaller dimensions and no pocket. I also didn't sew a seam at the bottom and instead folded the fabric at the bottom so the fold is in place of the seam. My dimensions for this was to cut the main piece 12' x 22', and the straps were 3' x 18'. Hope she likes it. BUT WHAT DO I PUT IN IT? I don't know what 3 year old girls like! Help me!

Next up are some cloth napkins.

Stars n Stripes and the Union Jack. The first pair of a set. (Embroidery design by Urban Threads)

I'm a Brit living in America. I love America. Love it dearly. But I'm still a Brit. I explain my love for my countries like this. Let's say you have a baby. You adore this baby. They are a part of you in every way. Then you get pregnant. It's hard to imagine that you will ever love another baby the way you loved that first one. But the second baby comes and you love that baby too. You adore the baby. Loving the new baby doesn't in any way affect your love of the 1st baby. You happily discover there is room in your heart to love them both.
That's how I feel about my countries. I love them both.

But I digress.....I like to call these embroidered kitchen towels my "Who burned dinner? Not me!" towels.

I added embroidered names to some towels and washcloths. Not fancy and I didn't photograph the boring towels to show you, but I did add this little guy to a washcloth that I think is cute.

What a friendly alien robot! (Design from Urban Threads)

In other news we took Delilah to her first swim lesson on Sunday. (Her name on her towel, of course!) I consider it a success because she didn't cry nor poop in the pool. And I didn't either!

Later skaters,

Janimal

P.S.

I really do need suggestions about what to put in the bag as a 3 year old girl's birthday gift. Help please!!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Union Jack Coaster

I discovered the MOST AWESOME website for machine embroidery downloads. I have devoured the whole site and am SO EXCITED to figure out places to put the designs.
Check it out: http://www.urbanthreads.com/

(They have some Alice in Wonderland characters to die for. I have plans for them! Check out this Mad Hatter. Only $3 to download to my machine. Awesome. For a hand embroidery download, just a buck. Coolness.)

Love it.

I stitched out a Union Jack from their site on a piece of bright pink Kona cotton. Just to see. Stitched out wonderfully! Instead of red, white, and blue, I went with light pink, pale blue, and grey. I liked how it turned out. But then I didn't know what to do with it?

Eventually I decided to make a coaster. See:

Already at use on my desk at work. Reminding people that as A Brit, I drink tea. Not coffee.

Blogland is chock full of tutorials for making coasters. Another one really isn't necessary. It's just a very simple project for stitched squares together. But what the heck, I took pictures while I made mine as practice for tutorial writing.

I eyeballed the flag and figured it would make a "larger" sized coaster. I thought about making it a potholder but didn't have any heat resistant batting on hand. (Will get some!). I thought I had scrap batting around, but oops, no. So I improvised and cut a square from a piece of thick fleece blanket like material. (For future coasters, I will probably use the fleece again. I have a tons of it. It worked great., was easy to cut, and easy to sew through.)

So 3 pieces of fabric. The embroidered flag, a piece of fleece, and backing fabric. All 6' by 6'.

Sandwich them together. Put the two thin fabric pieces right side together, and lay the inside piece (in this case fleece but batting if you have it.) on top.

Stitch through all three layers of fabric around the edge. I used my presser foot as the seam guide.

Don't forget to leave a space for turning.

Clip the corners to remove bulk, then turn it right sides out.

Ok, so turning, with the big flat embroidery and the attached stabilizer, wasn't a piece of cake.

But it wasn't impossible!

Push out the corners with a turning tool, or blunt end of a pencil, or in my case, I grabbed a nearby paintbrush and used the bottom of that!

Iron that sucker flat.

Now the fun part, put the coaster back in the sewing machine, right side up, and sew some lines. Quilting it. You pattern doesn't have to be lines of course. You could stitch a pattern or use a decorative stitch. I stitched lines because that seemed to work with the Union Jack design.

Just be sure to secure with backstitching at start and finish.

At this point, I realized my topstitching hadn't closed the turning gap, so I hand stitched the opening closed.

And Ta-dah! Gosh, makes my stapler and tape dispenser look homely. They may have to get some Mod-Podge treatment.....

I'm not sure if I will link this up to any link parties. I mean, there are already so many coaster tutorials out there it seems a bit silly to promote another one.

Unless there is a linky party for British stuff for other people who love the Union Jack!

I'll be back with a project for the Toy Society!

((OK, I decided to link it up, what the heck. Just have this disclaimer that I know coasters are not a crazy original idea. Just showing off my pretty pink one!))

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Another Tote Bag

LOVE this tote bag tutorial from Sew Mama Sew.

Made this one for Delilah's bestest babysitter:

If you can sew a straight line, you can sew this tote. Last weekend I carried one to the park so when Delilah was finished playing with her ball, I could carry it. (Along with sippy cup, snacks, etc!)

And another Mom complimented me on it and asked me where I got it! (glow with pride here)

The tutorial is easy peasy. All straight line sewing and lots of pictures and clear directions. A great project for a beginning sewer to gain confidence, and a satisfying quick and useful project for someone with experience. My only tip is to lower the tension when you go over the seams. I set my machine at 2 for the project, down to 1 over the seams.

Oh, snap, I guess I love this project so much I made ANOTHER ONE! This one for a friend with boys. I was excited when I saw the dinosaur camo fabric! So many pretty decorator fabrics for girls but not so much for boys.

I think this year I will be making these and using them in place of giftbags and wrap. A gift in a gift!

I will post my Spring Decor $5 craft challenge tutorial this week. No sewing in that one.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

New sewing machine!

My sewing machine was a gift 15 years ago. It has been used sporadically over the years, and despite NEVER being serviced or even cleaned properly, she still works well. Here she is:

(please ignore the messy table!)

Not fancy, but has gotten the job done for me. Now that I am sewing on a more "semi-regular" basis, and am trying to improve my skills, it's time for a new machine.

Last weekend I bought the Brother 900d machine. I think I am about to become an embroidery FOOL and Delilah will have her name on everything! That is, if I can figure out how to use it properly. It's so fancy compared to what I am used to, I am a bit intimidated! Last night I managed to add a decorative stitch to the bottom of a tshirt, and embroider Delilah's name on a piece of white fabric.

Here is the machine and a picture of my first shot at machine embroidery:

Note the paisley square on the right front of the machine? That's scrapbook paper I cut to fit the little window. I'll likely replace that with a picture of Delilah (because I am crazy photo momma with that kid) but for now the scrapbook paper works.