Embroidered Toilet Paper

I first saw the idea to embroider on toilet paper a few months ago and decided it would make great Christmas gifts for some of the men in my family.  It's unique and inexpensive and I though the novelty would be fun.

When I saw this free download from DigiStitches, I knew it would be perfect for my Brother-In-Law.  He's a big Ohio State fan and my sister graduated from the University of Michigan, so it was the perfect design!  It also fit very nicely on a square of toilet paper.

I think this design was supposed to be for a onesie :)

I had trouble coming up with an idea for my dad, and ended up deciding on the phrase "Grandpa's Reading Room" since I figured the roll would end up as bathroom decor.  From there, I searched for book designs and found this wizard that I had downloaded free from Bunnycup.

He kind of looks like my dad, if my dad was a wizard
photo from Bunnycup Embroidery

I used Embird to remove the lightning bolts and the wizard's hat and bangs and the robe portion that pooled by his shoes.

That left him hairless (not bald, just with an empty spot above his head), so I cropped out the hair from this Bunnycup caveman freebie and merged the two designs, tilting the hair a bit to fit on the wizard's Grandpa's head better.

photo from Bunnycup Embroidery

I am really pleased with how it turned out, and my dad got a kick out of it.

I used the 1/2" Green Bean font from 8 Claws

For those interested in the technical details--I found several ways to embroider toilet paper, but ended up going with the simplest.  The only thing I did differently was wait until the end to do some of the trimming.  Also, since the design for my dad is a little wider than one square, I just centered it over two squares.  When I was all finished, I did use a little glue stick in the corners of the loose end to help it stay on the roll.

Here's an in-progress shot.  You can sort of see how
the toilet paper is just laying on the stabilizer

Polar Bear Outfit

I didn't get a chance to post this other outfit I made Samuel when I posted the penguin outfit, because I was out of town and didn't have a way to upload photos.  Now that I'm back, I have some catching up to do!

I made the little bear's eyes blue to coordinate

The fleece for the pants was a remnant from Hancock Fabrics and the polar bear design is from Planet Applique.  My husband thinks I should have used more contrast, but I like the way I stitched this design.  It's subtle and cute and fits my belief that babies don't need a lot of frou-frou to look adorable.

I used fleece to make him look fuzzy

I can't wait to snuggle my little bear in this outfit!

Penguin Outfit

Well, I didn't finish all my projects, but I got the majority of them done and I was pleased with the gifts I was able to give my family. I'll be sharing those projects for the next few posts...


I tried to buy some clothes for my son before he was born, to try to space out the expense, but I didn't buy many for winter because I wasn't sure how he would grow. Turns out he's a big boy and in 9 month clothes already. So I appliquéd him some onesies and made some fleece pants to coordinate.

I used fleece for the penguin so he'd be soft & fuzzy

 
I love this little penguin from Planet Appliqué. In fact, I have loved this design since before I even had an embroidery machine. So I was pretty excited to be able to use it on an outfit for Samuel.

This little penguin is a bit of a butterball, like my son :)

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve is coming to an end at my house, and I just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a Merry Christmas!  I have 11 items left to complete on my (revised) list of 29, most of them quick or already half-done.  I have a little more time to work, so I will get done what I can.

Wishing you the merriest of Christmases!

Regardless, the most important work for Christmas has already been done...many years ago...in a manger in Bethlehem.  When God gave the world the best gift of all--His son, who would later die for our sins so that we could spend eternity with our Heavenly Father.  I pray that you and yours have a blessed holiday!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."  Isaiah 9:6

Little Girl Gifts

We were having one last playdate before Christmas with one of Danielle's friends today, so I wanted to give her a little present.  She LOVES baby dolls, so I thought a baby changing set using the free wipes case design from digiStitches and some doll diapers would be perfect.

Inside are some "wipes"--rectangles cut from white knit fabric

I made the pattern for the doll diaper with a little trial and error.  This new model is smaller than the one I made for Danielle's babies a couple months ago. 

The velcro goes across the whole front, to adjust
for different size dollies and to make it easier to fasten

I also stitched out some penguin barrettes for Danielle's friend and her little sister.  I added a little bow like it shows at GG Designs, and I think they turned out adorable.

I lined alligator clips with ribbon instead of making a felt cover

I plan to make some of these for Danielle after the holiday sewing is finished.  I revised my list and just counted--I only have 10 out of 32 items done!  I do have on extra day (after Christmas) to work, but it looks like I will have to take some things off my list or learn to sew faster.

Zip Pouches

Well, I didn't make my goal of 7 items completed yesterday, I only got 3 items done.  But that's okay, I will persevere!

One of the things on my to-make list was these little zip pouches for Danielle and Samuel's Sunday school teachers.

We love Miss Marleane and Miss Betty!

Last year I made Key Ring ID Holders from Embroidery Garden.  I like that design a lot, especially since you can use complimentary fabrics.  I wanted to do something different this year, though, and I had purchased this zippered pouches design from digiStitches.  They make up quick!  I like that they can be monogrammed and "installing" the zipper couldn't be easier.

Miss Patty has a special place in Danielle's heart

These are the ones made in the 4x4 hoop, and are big enough to hold a gift card.

Ho Ho Ho!  Santa loves these zip pouches too :)

To monogram them, I hooped two pieces of tearaway stabilizer in my 4x4 hoop (to make sure the cotton fabric wouldn't pucker).  Then I unfolded the piece of fabric that sits below the zipper and placed it on the stabilizer so that the initial would stitch out in one corner.  After the first initial was done, I folded the fabric back out of the way, and stitched another initial on another piece of fabric in a different corner.

Here's what it looked like after the 3rd initial

I got all 3 pouches monogrammed in one hooping this way.  Then I removed the the hoop, tore away the stabilizer, and folded each piece of fabric over interfacing, finishing per the instructions.

I had so much fun making these.  I plan to buy some zippers in bulk after the holidays as I think these will make great year-round gifts (especially the 5x7 size!)

The Big 3-1

I was having trouble keeping track of everything I wanted to make for Christmas, so I made a list a few days ago. I counted and realized I have THIRTY ONE items on my list and there are only 8 days until Christmas!! Obviously, some of them will have to give, but I have been known to work well under pressure so I'm going to try to do them all anyways. They are a mix of embroidery, hand sewing, crochet, applique and sewing--but mostly embroidery. Several of them are in-the-hoop designs, so those might actually get done quickly.

**Updated to add:  Lest you think that 31 items is do-able:  one of the items on my list is to make Christmas pj pants for the family.  That's 4 pairs.  And I've got half a dozen items that I need to make double of, because they're for my twin nieces.  Why am I still on the computer?!?!?

My goal for today is to get 7 items finished. It wouldn't be so hard, except my husband has been waiting a year for this video game to come out. He has early access to it (because he signed up forever ago) and his computer is back from the repair shop. So, yeah, conflicting priorities in our household, since someone has to watch the kids :)

I probably could get more done if I wasn't trying to blog about everything I had to get done, whoops.  But I wanted to post some quick pictures of the other 2 sets of pjs I finished up for Danielle last week.

Ballerina flannel from Hancock Fabrics

I figure these pictures are as exciting as hearing about my to-do list, so this post is cohesive after all :)

Cat face flannel from the fabric angel
who donated the flannel for the last pjs

Anyone else working on their own Christmas miracles?