619 miles

totes revisited

When I blogged about finishing my niece & cousin's totes I wasn't really finished. With all the embroidery on the outside the inside did get a little messy looking. I confess, I am not the most skilled or neatest embroiderer! I had planned from the get-go to line the totes in a fun fabric for the girls. As you may have noticed in this post, I kinda have a lot of fabric. I knew I wanted to use something I had on hand, so I dug through the drawers (before it was so neatly folded and organized) and decided on a piece of oilcloth I had purchased at Hancock fabrics last fall. I had no idea what I was going to use if for when I bought it, I just was excited to see a fun geometric print in oilcloth, and bonus to me... it was on SALE.

I had to do some serious math and planning before attempting to cut and it turned out I had barely enough to line both bags and include a little interior pocket.

It turned out better than I thought (yeah for some good luck) and I think the girls are going to love them. They are quite roomy and I know will hold tons of whatever they decide to stash in them. 

I used this nifty trick I found on Pinterest to help the oilcloth glide through the machine better. I didn't follow any specific instructions. I have made several lined bags before using patterns so I just kinda went from memory for these. Because the tote already had a finished top edge when I sewed them right sides together it created a lip of fabric that came over the top edge. I really like how it turned out, especially after a little topstitching. I have decided to hold on to them and give them as Christmas gifts this year. Note to self: start Christmas presents a year out to have them finished in time!

embroidered totes

About 2 months ago I blogged about some Christmas works in progress... they were REALLY late Christmas gifts that I started back in January when I was deployed. So being stuck here in Yuma has been good for finally getting the embroidery finished on those tote bags for Corinne and Taylor! I really am pleased with how they turned out. As do most of my "great ideas", they took much longer than planned. I used the Epic Alphabet pattern from Sublime Stitching for the lettering and the sides I drew freehand with a fabric marker that fades away when you get it wet. The totes also came from Sublime Stitching and they are really great to embroider on. I'm still planning on lining the insides with some fun fabric to cover the back of the stitching and add some interior pockets. If only I had my sewing machine here! Do they make travel sewing machines?!?!

I hope the girls love them. Here is the finished embroidery for Taylor's bag.

Here is Corinne's bag. For the sides of her bag I did a different technique inspired by the sashiko embroidery technique I've been wanting to try.

I think I would like try this technique some more, I'm thinking a pillow cover with this pattern would look great.

now I know my ABCs

Kerry,

OMG.. you have to check out this ABC crewel smapler kit by Alicia Paulson. I discovered it today on the blog Making it Lovely (which is a fave blog of mine). I want to buy this ASAP. 

images via posie rosy little things 

What do you think?!?! It would look great in the craft/gun room.... HAHAHA ;) I also love this quote that was included on the Making it Lovely blog, it is so true, don't you agree?!?!

It is available for pre-order with a mid-June expected shipping date. That should give me enough time to finish up the totes for Corinne & Taylor!      --jenn

 

works in progress - Christmas gifts

So... Ummmm... yes, I realize that Christmas is 8 months away. This post is not about how I am so organized that I am making Christmas gifts so far in advance.. oh how I WISH!! Unfortunately the works in progress are Christmas gifts for Christmas 2010! YIKES... I'm a little late, don't you think?!?!?

Oh well... people don't miss gifts they never knew they were getting, right?!?! I guess these will just become gifts for Christmas 2011 or just-for-fun gifts is more like it. I'm embroidering a couple of tote bags for my niece, Corinne and my cousin, Taylor. They are the same age and they are BEST OF BUDS. Unfortunately Corinne lives in FL and Taylor in KY (que triste). I like to match their gifts so that they can feel connected by having similar things even though they are hundreds of miles apart. Last summer when Corinne visited for a month they spent several days hanging out with me at my house and we had so much fun! We went to the family day at my work, did slip-n-slide with Cameron and I taught them how to embroider. Before Corinne flew back to FL we shopped at Jo-Ann's and put together little embroidery kits for each of them. They are so much fun to hang out with! 

Here are the Christmas 2010/just-for-fun gifts for the girls: embroidered tote bags. The tote bags are from Sublime Stitching as are the patterns for the lettering. I used this Epic Alphabet pattern before (on this pillow) and I love it. It's so fun.

side detail - free hand drawing with marking pen

this is how I trace a pattern when I'm not at home with my handy light-box

In 2009 I made the first of the matching gifts for Corinne and Taylor. I used an RVA embroidery pattern and stitched each one in the likeness of the girl, wearing their favorite colored dress and personalized with their names.

They both really liked these pillows, so when I suggested I teach them how to embroider they were pumped. It was amazing seeing them sit for hours patiently stitching away. It warmed my heart to be passing along the love of things handmade.

i heart this image

Taylor & Corinne - summer 2010 - age 10

Kerry quilts

Last post I showed you how clever with her embroidery skills Kerry can be, today I've got some super cute quilts she made for her nieces. She doesn't use patterns. She buys cool fabric and comes up with awesome ideas on putting the fabrics together. She even personalized each one with embroidered names. Just check out these twin full sized quilts, they are ridiculously awesome:

Aren't these just lovely?!?! I really love the purple one. Kerry said they were a pain to sew on her little machine, but I think they turned out great. She hasn't branched out from stitch-in-the-ditch quilting, but I can't wait till she does... I can imagine seeing some really cool quilting patterns! A few weeks ago I pinned a quilt on pinterest that was a cashmere sweater quilt. I sent it to Kerry because I knew she would love it. Turns out she already made something similar! I'll be posting that next. Happy Thursday... the weekend's almost here :)

I see London... I see France

I left home on a cold, rainy, and drizzly Saturday to arrive in a much warmer climate. Sometimes there are work trips that make up for 2 month deployments to Afghanistan, and this is one of them. During my whirl wind trip last week I got to visit Kerry and see some of the fun projects she's finished up recently.

While she was deployed I sent her a little fun crafting kit full of embroidery supplies. They are inexpensive and travel well. I loaded up on colorful thread, a small hoop, some needles, a marking pen, and a couple yards of simple white fabric. I threw in an assortment of embroidery patterns from Sublime Stitching and Red Velvet Art. I knew she would come up with some fun stuff, but she totally topped my expectations. She stitched up a bunch of cute little sayings and then sewed them into patchwork pillows. They were a gift for her sister, who I know will appreciate the humor.

I really like how she stitched the lettering. I've just done a simple straight stitch in the past for my lettering, but I like how her stitches look twisted almost. Ok.. enough blabbing about how awesome they are... here are the photos:

(photos by Kerry)

My favorites are "You don't suck" and "I see London, I see France". I told you guys Kerry was one creative gal!! More of her creations coming this week.

combat crafting

I finally got up during the daylight hours today! I wasn't feeling well at all, but I dragged myself out of bed and Amy and I wandered around trying to find a place to take some photos of our projects. We stumbled across a red barrier that had recently been put up around the Bhuts and decided that little splash of color would be nice for the photo shoot.

Surprisingly most of the guys that walked by as we were taking photos were genuinely interested without poking fun. Seeing all that color in the drab environment we're living in I think would make anyone smile.

Amy has been a knitting champ. She mentioned that she felt like she hadn't done much in her spare time here.. well I beg to differ. She has made:

• 8 cup coozies
• a washcloth with my initial on it :)
• gift bag (with another in progress)
• scarf
• hat (in progress)

Those are just the knitted projects. In fact, after seeing all her projects laid out, I felt like I was one who had been wasting time away! We both have also done some paper crafting with magazines which was also fun.

Check out our colorful creations:

Getting crafty in the MWR building: covering a box with cool pages from a magazine, and me getting started on embroidery project. Amy's Christmas present from me. Gift bag made of magazine paper plus yarn for arm warmers project

Amy's impressive collection of coozies: a monkey, a "J", even a christmas tree

knit gift bags by Amy

surrounded by her lovely projects. coffee anyone??

I started this embroidery a while back and it was super fun to do.

The violet yarn for this cowl looks nice against the embroidery. Love all the colors.

my projects.. all still in progress

It's been a lot of fun having Amy next door to share in all the crafting creativeness. It's almost time to go home!!! I hope I can keep up the projects once I get back to regular life.

embroidery kit

In addition to the craft kit, I also brought along an embroidery kit to help pass the time and feel productive. Stitching for me is a great stress reliever and also a bit therapeutic. I recently purchased a new hoop, that has a cover over the screw... it's supposed to keep the string from getting tangled or caught on the screw. I'm excited to try it out this slightly larger upgrade to my 6-incher. I also purchased and printed some patterns from Sublime Stitching and dug up some patterns from Red Velvet Art too. As I mentioned before, I'm starting out with the new EPIC Alphabet patten and decided on "sweet dreams" for my first attempt with these super cool letters. Wish me luck!

kit contents

colorful embroidery thread

RVA pattern, EPIC Alphabet & Forest Friends (Sublime Stitching)

transfer tools, for when you don't do iron on. At home I use a light box and the mark b gone pen, but since I didn't want to haul the light box with me, I decided to try the transfer paper for the first time

I managed to forget/lose my small scissors, but thanks to amazon I should have a new pair arriving any day now. Once I'm not either sleeping or flying I hope to get started.

ps... my "home sweet home" embroidery is in the Sublime Stitching gallery :)

color inspired stitching

Inspired by colorful kitchen wares, I am ready to get stitching. I purchased a new embroidery pattern from Sublime Stitching. It is THE most amazing embroidery site ever! The pattern i bought is called Epic Alphabet and it's a mix of House Industries' typefaces that look so fun to stitch. Check out the Sublime Stitching blog for more info on this pattern as well as some more awesome stuff that Jenny Hart, Sublime Stitching owner, is making.

She asked fans of her facebook page to recommend words to be embroidered using the new pattern, and she picked "MERCI". I love this and I am loving the colors. I recently purchased four small throw pillows and I think I'll make embroidered covers for them. Now I just need to decide on the words. I think I'll do "sweet dreams" on one and maybe "xoxo" on another. Any other suggestions?

just a little homesick

Go figure I finish this project when I'm thousands and thousands of miles away from home for the next two months.

I started this little bit of embroidery back in May and finally finished it up last week. Nothing like a 7 hour flight to get something accomplished. I'm either going to make it into a small pillow or a wall hanging. I was inspired by this piece. I really enjoy embroidering my own handwriting so I'm searching for any quotes or sayings to do next. Any suggestions or ideas?

Last year I made this into a wall hanging for my friend Lisa, I copied it from this artwork I stumbled across on-line. I wish I could locate the original source for this. If you know, please share.