Chaos

What is chaos you might ask?  It is trying to sew while two children are in the house.  That's chaos.  The number one rule of using a home embroidery machine is DO NOT WALK AWAY.  Bad, bad things happen when you walk away.  Just trust me on that.  I normally don't sew while I'm alone here with them for that very reason.  With two kids, it's impossible to sit still.  Someone is always going to need your attention and appliqueing one shirt from start to finish is about 45 minutes.  That doesn't mesh well with a 3 year old and 8 month old.  But, desperate times call for desperate measures and I have so many orders and so little times that I am desperate.

So how close did I get to having a nervous breakdown yesterday?  Pretty darn close.  Just hard to get anything done when you have to hit the stop button every two seconds because someones crying, someone, wants a bottle, wants juice, wants a snack, wants to "help" me, wants to fix something with his tools, etc...  I sewed all day long but didn't get that terrible much done.  About 8 things I guess.  Oh well, it's better than nothing.

I also tested two new designs for MCA Applique.  How did I get to be so lucky you might ask?  I just answered a post she created on facebook and showed her my work and she sent me designs to test.  I guess she liked what I did because I am  now part of her "Creative Team" and get cool little perks like a monthly membership to her site and I get to see and sew all the new designs coming out before everyone else does!  It's like being the first to see a brand new movie.

I don't get out much.

Anywho, here are the two I just did.

I LOVE the lollipops!  They just need to be eaten!  The fill stitch swirl also gives them dimension which is nice.

I love applique alphabets that aren't satin stitched but have the "vintage" look because it really showcases the fabric and doesn't cover any up!

The husband also got me a brand new fancy schmancy crock pot!  

Our old was about 6 years old and was used constantly!  It also had developed hot spots in it that would burn and is now impossible to get clean.  Not cool for me because I literally use it at least 3-4 times a week.  I cook every single night.  We don't eat out at all (sigh).  So good cookware is a necessity!

Some women would be angry with their husbands for gifts such as these.   I love them.  I'm just a little too practical sometimes!

Annie

How To Applique A Onesie

Hello Everyone,

I am about to try to give my first tutorial!  I had someone ask me the other day how I did my onesies so I figured the next time I did one I would take pictures to show the process.

This design is a seahorse with a name underneath and it is being done on a size 3 month Carter's brand onesie.

Lay out your onesie.

 
Turn your onesie inside out.

 Fold your onesie in half long ways making sure to match all seams!  If you don't, your applique can come out crooked or off center.  You want the front of your onesie on the outside of your fold.  Remember, it is INSIDE OUT!

 
Get your appropriate size hoop for the design you are using.  I have 3 sizes. 4x4, 5x7, and 6x10.  For a 0-3 month onesie, you don't want to get much bigger than 4x4.  This one measures just a little longer because of the name so I am using my 5x7 hoop.

Hoop your stabalizer only.  This is medium weight cutaway.  Not sure as to the brand or anything.  Have had this enormous roll for over a year.

  Carefully pick up your onesie and lay it done the middle of the hoop CAREFULLY making sure not to undo those matched seams.

There are little notches at the middle points of the hoop to help you out.

CAREFULLY unfold your onesie being sure not to shift it.

A wider shot.

  Now peek open the top and bottom of your onesie and pin just the front of your onesie to the stabalizer.

 See my straight pins?

Now put it on your machine.

 Now you have to make your opening to where you sew.  Pull up the back of the onesie (it's loose remember, you only pinned the front down) so that way you don't sew it too.  I have done this more than a few times.

 
See, the back of the onesie is bunched up around where I am going to sew.  This is also why you NEVER EVER leave your machine while it's sewing.  This can fall over and then you have a big ole mess when it gets sewn to the front.

Now its time to start.  Step 1 is the laydown stitch.  This tells you where to put your fabric.

 Cut a piece of fabric a little bit bigger than your stitch.  I also add Heat N Bond Lite to my fabric.  A whole other post though.  Applique Cafe Blog does a great one on it.

 Now it does the tack down stitch.

 Remove the hoop from your machine and carefully cut out around the stitches.  Close enough that they won't show through the satin stitch but not so close that you cut your stitches.  It's a balancing act I know.

 Put your onesie back on the machine and it's on to the next steps placement stitch.   You also need to check and make sure your onesie is out of the way.

Put the fabric down, tack down stitch, cut it out, put it back on.    Just to clarify, you aren't unhooping your onesie, just removing the entire hoop from the machine.

 Now it's the seahorses body.  You can change to the appropiate thread color but it's all hidden under the satin stitch so I don't.  Check your onesie!  Don't sew the back!

 Cut the next fabric out a little bit bigger and it does the tack down stitch.

 Tack down stitch.

 Cut it out.  These are 4" curved gingham scissors.

 You are done with the applique steps!  Put your hoop back on the machine.

 See the thin plastic stuff I put over it?  It's called Solvy.  It just makes your stitches look so much better.

 Check your onesie again!  Don't sew it to itself!  Here goes the satin stitches!

 Where are my children do you ask?  Why, they are watching Jake and the Neverland Pirates!

 Back to sewing.  Change your thread and do the next step.  Yep, Check your onesie again and make sure you aren't about to sew it to itself.  (redundant I know).

 Next is the name.  You have to pull the onesie to get it out of the way.  See now my seahorse is covered but that's fine because we're done with it.  Oh yeah, there was the eye step above too but that was no big deal.

 The Solvy is down there too!  There goes the name!

 You have to keep checking the onesie so that it the space that's about to sewn is not covered.  This is why you NEVER EVER walk away!

 DONE!!!

 Take the hoop out of the machine.

 Pull off your solvy as best you can.

 There's also solvy in all the steps and letters so you have to individually pull out those little pieces too.  Don't freak out if some of it is too tiny, it's water soluble so you can just spray it down with warm water and it will dissolve.

 Now take out your straight pins!

 Now unhoop your onesie and cut around the stabalizer.  Not too close though.  Don't cut the stitches or your onesie.  

 See.  Finished.

 Now it's done! And there is the ruffled diaper cover that I sewed to match.

Hope all that made sense!


Annie

P.S.  I want to say the Seahorse is by Plant Applique and the font is Curlz.  I bought it from 8 claws and paw I believe!

The Sewing Room

I figured I would give y'all a glimpse into my world and where all the magic happens.  Don't laugh.  

My spare room bed is pictured above.  I hope to soon buy another folding table so that way I don't have to use the bed, but all in good time.  When I get an order and get the fabric, I usually stack it up with all it's accessories and the pattern (if needed) so I have everything on hand.  I could use some organization I know.

See that huge roll of fabric?  I am making Ethan (my 8 month old) a diaper bag out of it and the polka dots laying on top of it!  It's laminated cotton!!!  I am excited about it be if it gets wet you can just wipe it off and it's no worse for wear.  I was a little surprised ,however, when the UPS man showed up with a huge box inhabiting that thing and several other fabric cuts! Aidan immediately got excited thinking he had gotten something in the mail!  Poor guy!

A close up of the fabric above!

I am also doing two more diaper bags.  It wasn't really planned that they coordinated, it just happened that way.  One is for a friend with a brand new little girl and another is for another friend with a brand new little boy.  Neither friend had any idea what they were having beforehand.  If we should have another  (HUGE IF!)  We'll do that next time.  Sigh.

The blue elephants and dots are for Meredith and the pink giraffes and dots are for Lacey!  Really excited to see them finished!   I just got the last things I needed from Hobby Lobby today to get them done.  Hopefully will get to work on them in the next couple days!

Some other pictures of my sewing room.  No judgement!

Yeah, I know I need more thread racks. I tried to get my husband to build me one (cough, cough) and it was an epic fail.  Love you honey!

I am also making two crayon wallets in the near future.   Below is the fabric being used.  The top for a robot loving little boy and the bottom for a sweet little girl!

And last I wanted to give a shout out to my friend Kaci Buckley.  Her business is K & K Gifts.  She and I went to high school at the good ole DHS and she made me this awesome sign!

The picture really doesn't do it justice.  I love it.  It is going to hang above the couch in our living room with framed familiy pictures all around it.  Hopefully to catch my eye and remind me to be calm and patient even when my boys or husband is driving me crazy.

That's all I got for now.  I just wanted to try out my blogging skills.


Annie