Embroidered Kitchen Towel

A while ago I asked my sister if she would draw me an embroidery design that involved a set of silverware holding hands with hats on. I'm cheesy like that and love handmade items in my kitchen so when I was gifted with this awesome towel I was quite happy :) I think the moustache is a particularly awesome touch!

Felt Journal Cover

I finished another journal cover this week and this one is my favorite so far. I busted out my sketchbook and came up with the dandelion idea, which I loosely transferred to the felt using a dressmaker's marker. I finished it with the blanket stitch and wove red floss through the edge because I love the way it looks. I really must make myself a journal one of these days. But Rachel, yours is next! :)

Another Journal

Mom's Towels

This year, I decided to monogram some tea towels for my awesome MIL for Christmas. I went with basic colors but used sparkly, gold thread to outline and highlight parts of the letter. These are fun to make because I enjoy how tedious they are but they don't actually take a lot of time when you get into a rhythm and throw a movie on in the background. Plus, everyone needs monogrammed tea towels...right?

Another Owl Cell Phone Case

I made another owl cell phone case for Mom for Christmas. Same deal...wool felt and fabric scraps. One of these days, perhaps I will make one for myself. 

Hypothetical Christmas Presents

Here are a few more needle books I made. I can neither confirm, nor deny that they may find their way under the tree this year. 

Felt Journal Cover

I made this journal as a Christmas gift. I used No Big Dill's book jacket tutorial and combined it with Anna Maria Horner's owl ornament tutorial . I used a running stitch in a swirly pattern to create the background texture. 

Close up: I totally should have straightened up the little flashy things before I took the picture!

And my favorite part! I have a vintage table scarf that has a really neat edging. It was done using a blanket stitch, with a contrasting thread woven through the edge. I used the same idea here, with thicker needlepoint thread to weave through the white edging. 

Felt Owl Cell Phone Case

Several months ago I was trolling Pinterest and saw some adorable owl cell phone cases. The link was for a blog written in Portugese. Woo! I pinned it thinking what all crafters seem to think: 'I could make that myself.' And I actually did. Mine is a bit more simple than the original. I used wool felt so that it will hopefully hold up longer.

Toadstool Needlebook

I recently made this for a friend who had a birthday. I found the tutorial here via Pinterest. I completed the whole thing in the time it took to watch one of those movies that make you feel like you lost 2 hours of your life and possibly a good percentage of your brain cells. I love how it turned out and I just might make one for myself!

Embroidery

Here is a tea towel I finished a few weeks ago. The transfer was a good ol' Aunt Martha's found at a yard sale. At first, I had no intention of using fill stitching. The petals just didn't seem very interesting, so I decided to fill them in. Then, I thought the leaves looked left out so I filled them too. The petals are split stitch with stem stitch and back stitch details. The leaves are filled with chain stitch. I gave it to my mom, along with the threat that she'd better USE it! None of this 'its too pretty to use' business. :)

Embroidery

Here is a tea towel I did for Mom for her birthday. Never mind that it was in February. Oi! Oh, how I love embroidery. I've been mulling it around in my head lately how to incorporate it into a dress or shirt for myself...as if I need another project!

Pickle Apron!

First of all, I must apologize for the disgraceful picture! You'd think I would iron that bad boy first, right? Oh, well. A friend of mine makes the best pickles ever, and she has decided to go into business selling them. I made this apron for her because I thought it might come in handy when she is at a farmer's market selling her wares. The embroidery design was taken from her logo. To transfer it to the dark fabric, I used dressmakers transfer paper. I put it face down on the fabric, put my printed logo over it, and traced with a pencil. (You have to press firmly so it transfers nicely) It rubs off fast, so I ended up tracing over those lines with colored pencil. The pattern is the Granny's Clothespin Apron from One Yard Wonders.

Cheeky Bookbag

Around Christmas time, I saw a bag on Etsy with the quote: 'I like big books and I cannot lie.' I thought it was hilarious and knew that I had to make it. The original song (which is really not classy at all...) was popular in the late 90's and it said 'I like big butts and I cannot lie.' I have a friend who shares my sophisticated sense of humor so this was made for her. The bag is nothing fantastic, just corduroy lined with a feed sack print. The white text is hand embroidered with the chain stitch, and the 'big books' text is iron on letters. You have no idea how hard it is to find matching letters in the same color at Joanns. That's why I used yellow. I left the store feeling slightly hostile after tediously sorting through the poorly organized bins of rubber-banded iron-ons.

Embroidered Tea Towel

Here is a tea towel I made last week for a gift. The towel is a vintage reproduction towel that is made by Aunt Martha's. Their towels have a nicer weight than a lot of other tea towels so I like to use them for embroidery.

Aunt Marla's Monogram Tea Towels

I made these for my Aunt Marla for Christmas. They are like the ones that I made here. I like how they turned out and it was fun to make them for someone other than myself!

Confessions from the Feather Your Nest Failure

I have failed the August Feather Your Nest challenge. Technically I have an excuse because my sewing machine was packed away due to home improvement. However, I was so looking forward to making some fun projects. Maybe this month. This project was finished a while ago but I had forgotten to take a picture of it. This is a drawing my son made, which I traced onto muslin and embroidered. I recycled the frame from one of those cheesy doctor's office-art pictures and sprayed it black.

Tea Towel

There is nothing like a nice embroidered tea towel to help your bread rise. So, maybe it doesn't really help your bread rise but I'd like to think it does. ;) The lesson learned from this one is that you should NEVER buy the cheaper tea towels like the ones they sell at Walm@rt or T@rget. Get the nice Aunt Martha's ones the sell at Jo@anns. Its worth it in the end. The weave on these was so loose that it was hard to get nice even stitches.

Christmas Craftiness!

Without turning this into a blog of excess exclamation points, I would just like to say that crafting for Christmas is so much fun!!!!!!! Well, when you are crafting for people who appreciated handmade stuff, or at least pretend they do. ;) The following are pictures of some of the things I made for Christmas.

This is a tea party play mat I made for my daughter. I saw a similar idea online and kind of used that to inspire me. The tea bags, plates, cookies, tray and teapot are all removable (with velcro). I also made a zippered pouch to fit it all nicely inside. She loves to play with her 'tea poddy.'

A pile 'o bibs I made for my baby boy, because what do you get for a kid who is just pushing 6 months? I used reclaimed fleece and flannel for the batting, which turned out to be a nice way to use that stuff up.

And what is the must-have accessory for every handsome, chubby little baby boy? Why, tie onsies of course! Made from reclaimed mens' dress shirts.

And for my sister and bro-in-law, 'his and hers' bathroom bags. Cheesy, I know, but Rach inspired me by braving zipper installation when she first started sewing earlier this year. Zippers used to scare me. I decided to overcome my fear by making various box pouches. While the zipper and I are not yet 'fast friends,' we are now on speaking terms.

Monograms

A few months ago, Mom bought a monogram book to do a little embroidery. Little did she know that I would end up borrowing the book and going a little bit monogram crazy! For Christmas gifts, I monogrammed a scarf, a vintage handkerchief (the 'J'), and several sets of pillowcases. Fun, fun!

Hooray! Yippee! Monograms :)

Phil's Pillowcase

Tea Towels

My Pillowcase