Almost Instant Gratification

I haven't fired up my embroidery machine in a while (in fact, I'd have to dig through my blog archive just to find the last time I used it). But I got antsy this weekend as none of my sewing projects were working the way I wanted them to, and I switched gears. It felt SO good to knock some projects out quickly!

First up, I added baby Andrew's name to a set of dinosaur burps I had already appliqued. These are going to my sister's friend (whose first son, Adam, received these burp cloths).

Font used is "Burst" from 8 Claws and a Paw
Brontosaurus and Triceratops appliques are from Planet Applique

I wasn't going to tilt the letters at all, just place them along the dinosaur's back, but the "d" didn't want to play nicely that way. So I rotated a few of the letters just a tad to make them fit better.


I also added a little friend's name to her beach towel. Soleil turned 2 recently and her mom brought this over for me to add her name to. I recognized the "hello kitty" font immediately and knew I had the font to match it. I decided to curve Soleil's name around the sun and thought it was especially appropriate as her name means "sun".

Font used is "Mandi" from 8 Claws

I used the capital "L"s for more depth. In order to position the letters, I measured the circle and made a shape in my digitizing program to use as a baseline. Then I removed the circle and saved the file with just the letters in her name. I was pretty pleased with her it turned out.

It felt really good to finish up two projects in less than the time it takes me to cut out some of the stuff I sew!

Thank Heaven

In the midst of the scramble that was my trying to get my twin nieces' package off before their birthday, I took a pause to embroider some burp cloths for my MIL's friend.

"Golden" font used from 8Claws

My MIL picked the pastel fabric combination for baby Jalen and I used the same font I used on the shabby rose bib I recently made to personalize it.  My MIL also wanted a second burp cloth with something girlie on it, so we used the Thank Heaven for Little Girls design from Lynnie Pinnie.

The heels of the socks and their outline is supposed to be
the same color as the satin stitch around the onesie, but
I stopped my machine in between and changed colors.

I used the same girlie colors that the first burp had and packaged them as a set, tied with a tulle bow.  It was a quick and fun gift to make, especially since my MIL clipped all the jump threads and removed the stabilizer :)

Got Milk?

I made some baby gifts for a friend a month ago, but wasn't able to get them to her until this past week.  Thankfully I made baby Jaxon's onesie in the 3-6 month size so it will still fit for a while.  His mama is a lactation consultant, so I manipulated the font "Skinny" from 8ClawsandaPaw to make the phrase "Got Milk?"

I compressed the "m" to make it look more like the famous phrase, took the curve off the bottom of the "t" and distorted the "?" from another font so that it fit in with the rest of the letters.  I compressed the "o" a little as well and the stitches are skinnier at the top and bottom, making it look a little off even though the widest stitches are the same size as the rest of the letters.  I will have to play around in Embird a bit more to even it out next time.

I also made a taggie and burp cloth for Jaxon:

Monogram done with "Cubed" font

I used satin & grosgrain ribbon for the tags, along with some satin blanket binding for the really wide cream ones.

I also used the blanket binding to add a "J" to the front of the taggie.

The front side is some leftover piggie flannel

I've been appliqueing a lot with my sewing machine now that I have one that can do a blanket stitch (and a satin stitch and a ton of other stitches also).  I made similar taggies to donate but put a heart on those and I'm finishing up some cute appliqued skirts for my nieces :)

Owl Burp Cloth

A friend from my Navy days just had her baby, so I made some burps to send to little Emery (isn't that a great name?) 

"Green Bean" font from 8Claws--I love it!

I felt like a bit of a stalker when I was checking out her nursery board on Pinterest, but was very happy to see that she pinned some owl stuff in similar colors after I had already stitched these!

Owl from DesignsByJuju

If you want to stitch this owl, I will warn you--the eyes could be digitized better.  I had to do some hand-stitching to fix where the eyeballs unraveled a little.  If I stitch this guy again I will move some stitches using my embroidery software, to make the ends more secure.  Digitizers, if you're reading this, it's much better to stitch details like this from the outside in, both sides, so they meet in the middle!

I also made one last set (are you reading this Shawna?) for my sister to gift.  Her husband has identical twin sisters and their babies will be just a few months apart.  I already made a set for one sister-in-law (the ones for baby Piper); this set is for the other sister-in-law. 

"Itty Bitty" font from 8Claws

Burps for Mom Friends

I just wanted to share--rather quickly--the burps I made for some friends in my MOPS group.  I love the way the fonts turned out on these!

For baby Harper, I used the Itty Bitty font with a pink & grey fabric combination.

This font is so cute for both boy and girls

And for baby Natalie, I used the font Sweet Tarts with my Purple Dots theme.

I think the "N" is especially pretty!

Nothing groundbreaking, but I wanted to share anyways. :)

A Few More Burps

These are the last two sets of burp cloths I needed to make for my sister.

The first is for her sister-in-law, who just had a little girl.  I used the "Kindergarten" font from 8 Claws & a Paw.

Pink and Grey set

The other set is for a little boy named Nico.  I used fabrics from Riley Blake (love them!) and the "Mister" font from 8 Claws.

Bullseye Stars set

I really like how both sets turned out and it was nice to use my sewing machine again :)  Next up, some pjs for Danielle and a dress for me!

Bandana Burps

I made another set of burps for my sister to give as gifts--two sets actually.  Seems there's something in the water in her neighborhood, as every few houses has a set of twins!

I love how the "P" and "R" are so similar

This set sewed up so sweetly and I am a bit sad that I won't be making these to sell :(  The font I used on these is "Sweet Tarts" from 8 Claws and it's one of my favorites.

My traditional burp shot :)

The next post will be a bit of a switch--I'll be sharing a crochet project I've been working on!

Burp Cloth Gifts

Even though I am no longer selling my burps, they will still be popping up as gifts, at least while I have some supplies left.  These are for my sister to give to her friends (odds are pretty good they haven't been following my blog, so I feel safe posting them).

This Turquoise Flowers set is for a little girl.  I used the font "Bella" and love the "L".

Font from 8 Claws

This is my favorite of the two.  It's the Blue & Grey set.  I love the font in the grey thread.

"Happy Birthday" font, also from 8 claws

I have a few more sets to work around my Halloween and other seasonal sewing--apparently everyone in Tennessee is having babies!

Closing Up Shop

I have such a heavy heart today.  I will be closing up shop, effective immediately :(  I still plan to sew for fun and for my family, but I will not be doing it as a business anymore.  It has become a distraction from my "real" job, which is to be a full-time mommy. 

I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but I am grateful to know I have wonderful friends and family supporting my decisions.  I will still be blogging, as I can, and hope you will continue that journey with me.

Love,
Angie

Two Quick Things

First off, I received the last fabric combination in the mail and it is CUTE!  I think I may have to make the sample for this pair for my son.

 

"Green Robots"

A picture can't even do it justice--it's so much cuter in person.

And I'm in the middle of a sewing-for-fun project.  I finally got a chance to do the applique so I can now work on construction when I get a chance.  Here's a peek:

Can you tell what this is going to be?

Hope everyone is having a fantastic day!

New Fabrics

I received a package with many of the new burp fabrics today.  Unfortunately, one of the fabrics I chose looked great online but was hideous in person.  I've already found a replacement combination, and it's better, so I'm looking forward to getting it in the mail soon.  Here are the new sets I received fabric for today:

Pink & Grey

Blue & Grey

Dino Stripes

Pink Bandana

Turquoise Flowers

I have 3 more sets coming in the mail--I will post them as soon as I get them!

Brayden's Broncos

So I finally get to share this set I made for baby Brayden!

Custom set for a special baby

We were going to visit with his family last week, but had to change our plans because of the hurricane.  We finally met him tonight and he is adorable, though he slept the whole time we were there.  He's just making up for some naps he missed by showing up 6 weeks early :)

"Plain Jane" font from 8 Claws

His family is from Colorado and I know they like the Broncos, so I picked this fabric up for them a while ago.  I was hoping they were big enough fans that it was a good choice, so I was happy when his daddy said these burps were going in the "Broncos room"!

Big Changes!

Whew!  I have been hard at work on the computer for most of my spare time the past two days.  Not much sewing has gotten done in the meantime, but I'm excited about two big items I tackled.

First, I just ordered fabrics for EIGHT new burp cloth sets!  It was super fun to shop for them, and this new batch will be more colorful and a little less conservative than the first 8.  Here's a sneak peak at one combination:
 

I LOVE Riley Blake fabrics!

In addition to Riley Blake fabrics, I've selected some from Michael Miller, Robert Kaufman and Marcus Bros.

The other really big change is that I've now added a form for ordering burps directly from Facebook.   There are drop-down boxes and links to the font & fabric choices right on the form, so it should be very easy to order now!  If you have any comments, questions or concerns about the Facebook page changes, please let me know!

More Burps

Today's been busy with preparations for Hurricane Irene, so, in case I don't get any projects done in time to take pictures, I'm showing off some more of my burp cloths.  All 3 sets here were sewn to go together, since I think 2 (or more!) burps makes for a really nice gift.
 

Triceratops had some big heads!

I appliqued the last two designs in the fabrics that I offer for personalized sets.  This opens up a lot of opportunities for coordination, since any of the fabric pairs can be used for any of the designs.

I love this "Neutral Stars" set

I wasn't sure about using black on something for a baby, but I really like the way these sweet little animal designs turned out.

Made with "Bright Bugs" fabrics

All the designs for this post are from Planet Applique.  I really like her style and her designs always stitch out beautifully.  There really is a difference between the quality of work of different digitizers, so I want to have a lot more stitching time under my belt before I try my hand at my own designs.

Burp Cloths

I've always wanted to find a way to have sewing be my job.  As a stay-at-home-mom I already have a full time job, so selling my work is now an extra way to help our family.  When I saw how excited moms got over "pretty" burp cloths, I realized they would be a great fit for me.  The inventory is rather straight-forward, I could play with fabrics and I could use my embroidery machine.  And who doesn't love something with their baby's name on it?  Best of all, it's something I can make in a way that works with my family's schedule.  Added bonus:  I get to make samples and use them for my son!

Aren't they pretty?

Lately I've been working on some custom burp cloths that I plan to post about, but I thought I should show my "basic" burps first.  I use two, coordinating fabrics for each set and offer 8 options for now:

These were so fun to shop for!

I make one burp with a vertical strip and baby's initial, and one burp with the two fabrics horizontal that has baby's name on it.

"Purple Dots" set with Curlz font

I also started making burp cloths with appliqued designs on them, so there are choices for those who don't know the baby's name yet or who want to match a theme.  We have a jungle theme in our nursery, so I love this little guy:

Monkey from Planet Applique

If you want to see more of my work (or find out how to order) you can check out my Facebook page: daniKate Burp Cloths.