We’re re-modeling our kitchen. What, you might ask, does that have to do with a Peter Rabbit blanket? Let me explain.
We have no counters, no kitchen sink, and until last week, no stove. Of course, breakfast and lunch are cold or prepared in the microwave and eaten on paper plates. For dinner, we have no choice but to eat out every night. What a hardship! I told the kitchen guys to take their sweet time.
Posted in baby accessories, machine embroidery
Like a virus, periodically a need to destash sewing items that I know I will never use comes over me. If any of these look like something you need, send an e-mail to NCcabin@aol.com or leave a comment. I had such BIG plans for these things—many years ago. So it’s time to let them go. Prices do not include shipping or insurance.
SOLD #5 and #7Â Â Â Â Â #6 and #8 Â Â $2 each plus shipping
$5 per yard. Swiss edging used on the Mayflower dress shown below.
Drop me an e-mail or comment if you would like any of these items. Paypal is preferred, but personal check or money order is fine.
Posted in baby accessories, patterns
cot sheet for Vivian Rose, made of heavy pink twill with a border of Children on Parade by Michael Miller
Valentine NEWSFLASH!!! Sarah Jane, the fabric designer for Children on Parade and many other adorable prints, has posted on her blog a downloadable PDF for an absolutely adorable, printable (4 to a sheet) kids’ Valentine card. With Olympic hearts and a gold chocolate coin taped to the back, it will delight all your children’s friends. Check it out here. Thanks, Mary Sue, for the link!~~~~~~~
Our 13 month old granddaughter, Vivian Rose, is now enrolled at a Montessori school two days a week.  After the first day, I called her mother, my Rebecca, to see how it went. When she said it hurt to hear Baby Girl wailing as she did, I sympathized and said it must have been hard to leave her.
“NO!” Rebecca said. “She cried and cried when I picked her up! She didn’t want to leave! When I dropped her off she gave me not a single backward glance and toddled off to the play area. That hurt a little.” Vivian Rose is one independent little girl.
The font is JuJu’s Sugar and Spice. Isn’t it so cute? The set comes with numerals, upper case and lower case in 3″, 5″ and 6″ sizes. The letters had to be staggered in order to fit in my largest (8″ x 12″) Brother Quattro hoop.
But like all of the “Ones” in her baby class, she has a scheduled nap time. Â For that, Rebecca asked for a personalized cot sheet, much like those I had made for Big Brother Alastair and his friend Carson.
My Oh My, so sew much drama ensued.
But first, I have to ask if you have seen this most adorable dress made by Cheryle Cole-Bennett whose facebook page is SeeSeeMe Custom Designs.
The fabric is Michael Miller’s Children on Parade.
Posted in baby accessories, girls, machine embroidery
Tagged Cheryle Cole-Bennet, cot sheet, jenni leigh, machine embroidery
Our congregation is celebrating the birth of yet another precious baby. Due to some complications, little Laura Jane came into the world a month before her due date. At just over 4 lbs., this pocket sized preemie spent her first ten days in the hospital.
Two weeks later and now at home, Laura Jane weighs 5 lbs. 8 oz. Hurrah!
As a deacon of our church, one of my responsibilities is to welcome new babies with a gift, hence, this blanket. I love my job, but wish we had more newborns!
The delicate pink color of the ready made 100% cotton flannel blanket is much like the blush color of sweet baby cheeks. The flannel’s heavy but luxurious texture made the embroidery process a real delight.
The text was arranged in Brother’s PE-Design. The little angel cherubs are from Petite Designs, Brother’s card #20, one of my most often used collections. The corner embroidery nestled perfectly in my Brother Quattro 8×8 hoop.
cotton flannel blanket with machine embroidery
This blanket was made for the newest, cutest addition to our church family. Much as I have always wanted to make a Precious Child of God pillow or blanket, I couldn’t resist emphasizing that this baby is a boy child. Born to a family with adorable two daughters, I would guess that they are extremely pleased to welcome a baby made of “snips and snails and puppy dog tails.”
The blanket is a lovely, soft, 36″ x 50″ plush 100% cotton flannel, one of several I bought on clearance a long time ago (does that surprise any of you?).  The border hemline is embellished with the zig zag feather stitch I created in the My Custom Stitch feature on my Brother embroidery machine.  For those of you who have this capability, I would be happy to send the stitch. But it can not be opened or read by anything but a Brother machine with this feature. Continue reading
Posted in baby accessories, machine embroidery
Tagged baby blanket, My Custom Stitch, precious child
What a wonderful organization Operation Christmas Child is! Shoe boxes filled with age/gender appropriate gifts are given to children who might otherwise receive no gifts on this most special holiday. These are children in war torn areas, in refugee camps, and in areas of disaster like the Philippines.
Rosey Alphabet from Hang To Dry is the source of the “P” and the flowers. The font for Page is Sweet Tart from 8 Claws and a Paw. The bib is an ITH design from FiveStarFonts.
Have you ever seen a sweeter combination of fabric and design? Like everything Cheryle Cole-Bennett makes, it is perfectly stitched and perfectly coordinated. Any new mother who received a set like this would likely be dancing on the ceiling between each feeding and diapering session (if she weren’t too exhausted).
This set and everything featured here was made by Cheryle, an incredibly talented designer. I happened upon her projects while surfing the very active, broad spectrum SewForum.com site which is graciously sponsored by AllBrands.com. The forum is one you must join in order to have access. Just do it–you’ll be glad you did.
Here’s a close up of the onesie. Cheryle mentioned a modification she made. “The P was edited to use the flower component from a different letter.” Can you see that the flowers are 3 dimensional?
After downloading many of my favorite photos from SewForum into my computer file called “pics inspiration,” I noticed that several were “ccb” (Cheryle) submissions.  When I saw her preciously pink Roses for Page, I had to know more about this person. Continue reading
Posted in baby accessories, infant clothing, machine embroidery
Nat King Cole sang, “Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer…”
I haven’t seen much lazy this summer, and I have never seen hazy Florida humidity as visible as in these photos. It was steamy out at the clothesline today! I have seen plenty of “crazy,” but I’m not even going to start on that.
In earlier posts, there has been discussion about the utility end of sewing. Not everything we stitch is beautiful or creative or unique. Sometimes it is just what is needed. And according to my daughter, her children needed laundry bags. So that’s what I sewed. Continue reading
Posted in baby accessories, bags, machine embroidery, Nana fun
There are so many projects and ideas I want to share with you, but time is just too short right now. Vivian Rose is the proud owner of a sweet little smocked popover that I will share with you later and another major project is underway. For now, this re-run~fro, 2010 will have to do.
This T-bonnet is a great little project with some interesting techniques, especially for those who do not use an embroidery machine. I hope new readers will find something of value and those of you who have already seen this post will not mind it the second time around.
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Enchanting as I find this T-bonnet to be, the techniques used in its creation hold even greater interest. At an Elna Convention outside Minneapolis, Melissa Stone, daughter of renown Sarah Howard Stone, taught this project to an eager group of students, including me.
Mind you, this was before the advent of the home embroidery machines. So for anyone who does not have an embroidery machine, this technique is gold. For those who do, the technique has applications beyond this project.
The T-bonnet is de rigueur, standard heirloom sewing. For directions and measurements for a basic t-bonnet, refer to my earlier post, unimaginatively entitled “T-Bonnet.”
In the class with Melissa Stone, we used the pattern measurements from her mother’s book, French Hand Sewing. But Melissa’s innovative idea for embroidering the bow, without the use of a water-soluble marking pen, was very creative. Continue reading
Posted in baby accessories, heirloom sewing, techniques
Tagged baby bonnet, bridging, feather stitch, heirloom sewing, machine fagoting, T bonnet
Antique textiles offer so much creative inspiration. Suzanne Sawko and I found this elaborate antique bib at the once-in-a-lifetime estate sale mentioned in earlier posts. It appears to have both machine and hand stitches on a fabric similar to light weight pima broadcloth or a heavy weight Swiss batiste. Continue reading
