Christmas Sewing 2012

These are some my Christmas sewing projects for 2012. I made over 125 items for family and friends. Hope you will enjoy the eye candy. I still have a few more projects to complete for some church friends and they will get them on Sunday (Jan 6th). I have been sick for most of December with bronchitis so I was amazed that everyone had their gifts by Christmas Eve. Some days, I sewed 9 - 12 hours at a time and other days, it would only be 1 or 2 hours. It took me a little over 3-1/2 wks to get everything sewn. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Marty

Christmas Sewing 2012

These past few weeks I have sewing Christmas gifts for my family members and a few friends. I have made over 100 gift items for everyone. While I can't post the photos until after Christmas, I can post 3 items that I made that are non-Christmas gifts. The first item is a stocking for my great niece/nephew that is due in May 2013. The parents refer to the baby as Maity which is a play on their last name and their love for the water. They even went on a "babymoon cruise" for Thanksgiving week. I thought that this was a cute idea and I was able to make it while dinner was cooking.

 

 

 

 

 

The second gift that I made was for a new adoptive family's baby. As representative from my church for Hannah's Hope Adoption Services, I learned that a family was able to adopt a little boy. I thought it would be nice to make something for them for the nursery. So, I whipped this up for the new family. The minister/administrator for Hannah's Hope will deliver the gift this week. I used a white felt square and a Sonia Showalter design. The scripture is in Madeira Rayon royal blue with brown and off white for the bassinet and netting. You can't really see the baby which is in flesh tone and the baby's blanket which is in pale blue. I did this while dinner was cooking and had a frame that wasn't in use. It fit perfectly in the fram with a little trimming.

Today, I had been invited to a baby shower for a friend's daughter. My friend will become a grandmother for the first time. I wanted the gift to be something special, so I stitched this up last night after dinner. It is white felt squares cut into the shape of  a stocking. I used Madeira Rayon thread and the design is from Sonia Showalter. The bassinet is of brown thread with a golden tint and the lace is an off white. The scripture is done in a dark purple and the edge stitching is in a soft pink. Perfect for a little girl. The baby in the bassinet is in flesh tone with the same soft pink as the edging for the blanket. Sorry about the bad lighting. I used a satin stitch around the edge of the stocking and on the tab and finished it with my pinking shears.

Sewing brings me inner peace so I try to sew something every day or read about sewing.
Merry Christmas and Happy Sewing Everyone!!!
Marty

Birthday Surprise

I have the best hubby that there is. Last Friday (10/26), I joined the 60's Club when I started a new decade in my life. A lot of my sewing is away from home so I was wishing for a little sewing/embroidery machine to make easier for me to continue to do this. This little Sofia 2 fit the bill so I let hubby know that I really wanted it when I gave him a list of things that I wanted for my birthday. It helps him to shop for me and I get things that I really want as I include prices, places to shop and sizes. For him, it takes the stress off of trying to decide what I might like. My thoughts were that it was wwwaaayyy too expensive as the MSRP was $799.99. So on my birthday, we have a birthday luncheon instead of dinner at my favorite steakhouse. Afterwards, it was home to open gifts and rest (so I thought). My lovely daughter knows how much I love a good massage so I have a gift coupon to get a one hour massage at the Mid-South Chiropractic Office (will book that for one day next week) and I had a box wrapped in brown paper from hubby. Inside the box was a little folded card that said that this machine was mine and did I want to go pick it up that afternoon?  Well, YES!!! So, instead of a nap, off to the dealer we go. I was so surprised especially since hubby retired in August and I knew that our income was cut in half. I truly did not expect this wonderful gift. Not only did he get the machine for me but I also got a roll of water soluable stabilizer by Floriani, an Edge Joining presser foot and a Five Cord presser foot plus 4pkgs of embroidery needles. I am totally spoiled. This was one of my best birthday gifts ever. I think being 60 is going to be fun.
Happy Sewing!!! 

Sewing, sewing & more sewing ...

Since my heart surgery back in April, I have been sewing up a storm, teaching sewing lessons, started exercising at our church's fitness center, & preparing for hubby's retirement on 8/15. Here are some of the preemie burial gowns that I have done for The Mid-South Threads of Love chapter. I have 3 more gowns started & will post photos of them when they are done. A friend of mine crochets the blankets & bonnets for the burial sets. Then one day while I was folding laundry, I saw this worn hand towel & thought it could use a pick me up so I added this design which is built into my Ellisimo sewing machine. It gave the towel a new look. Who said that you only have to embroider new towels? I also cut out 4 diaper shirts for a cousin's new grandbaby but I need to finish them & am working on pillowcase dresses for children in Africa. I have 10 dresses ready to add the bias tape straps & 5 dresses cut out to sew. With the hot weather that we are having, it makes sense to stay inside my air conditioned home & sew.
Happy Stitching!
Marty

Feeling a Little Bionic ...

This week I had surgery to correct a heart rhythm problem & spent the week in the hospital. After 4 hospitalizations last year due to low blood pressure & an ER trip earlier this year, my cardiologist decided that I needed a Holter monitor test. That showed my blood pressure & heart rate were reaching dangerous levels. On Tuesday, I had an Electro Physiology study done which is a surgical procedure done on an outpatient basis that measures the electrical impulses of your heart rhythm. He decided that I needed a pacemaker/defibillator implanted in my chest. So on Wednesday morning, I had surgery for this & got a Medtronic ICD put in my left shoulder area. I was in surgery for 3-1/2 hours & then in recovery for a half hour. They gave me 4 doses of Dilaudid for pain so I was pretty loopy all day. Yesterday, I felt better & walked a little in the hospital hallway & knitted. Today, I was released from the hospital & am glad to be home with a working heart. Hopefully, this will keep my heart in rhythm & I can give up going to the hospital every few months. On top of that, I got my new wheelchair on Monday. Am feeling much, much better. Thanks for all of the prayers & well wishes.
Blessings,
Marty  

My First Heirloom Gown

Starting in October, I knew that I wanted to make my first heirloom gown for my cousin's first grandchild that was due at the end of  December. I wanted it to be extra special so I went to A Frayed Knot in Lakeland, TN to purchase my fabric. Overwhelmed at the selections, I chose a cotton/silk twill fabric in white & bought the Michie #108 Infant Tucked Gown pattern. Baby came early in December but I was in the midst of Christmas sewing so I put the gown on hold. In January, I got started. I asked the mom as to what size would she need & she said newborn. So I cut the small little bodice but decided to go with the largest size skirt (12 mo) so there would be lots of fullness. I embroidered a Jerusalem cross in the center front of the skirt & a basket of flowers with roses on each side. The back of the skirt had 3 baskets of flowers embroidered on it. Each design had well over 30,000 stitches each. I did white on white. Oops, forgot & used a little off white in one or two of the designs. I added 3 pintucks to the bottom of the skirt & a lace edging. The lace was a rose design of cotton/rayon from Hancock Fabrics. I wanted a little lace beading so added a row of that above the pintucks. This took most of the month of January to get these things done. Then I cut out the bodice but it wouldn't match up  & I didn't understand the instructions fully. I really do need to take a class on this. So, I cut another bodice & again it wouldn't match up. It's a good thing that I bought a lot of fabric for this gown. By the middle of February, I realized that the baby had grown so I cut a larger size bodice (opted for 6 month size) & again it would not match up. I was really getting frustrated. One of my guild members looked at the instructions & pointed out that I was supposed to make the pintucks first from a rectangle of fabric, add the insertion lace, & then cut the bodice & yoke. I did that & viola, everything matched up the way it was supposed to do so. By then, the baby had been baptized so I decided I would finish the gown for Easter. I added the sleeves, lace beading on the shoulders & around the sleeve bands & sewed the bodice to the skirt . Thank goodness for good sewing machines & sergers. I embroidered the baby's name & birthdate on the yoke lining plus added some fabric behind the center front so the embroidery did not detract from the insertion lace. On the back, I had to figure out how to finish the opening (instructions were useless at this point) as the back was cut on the fold. I opened down the center & added lace beading to the neckband & the waistline. Note to self, do buttonholes before adding the lace beading or they will not be centered. I added a small placket in the back of the skirt & did a lot of hand stitching to get the neckband & sleeve bands on as well as the placket. It's not my best placket ever but for a first try, it wasn't too bad. I sewed on the buttons, took some photos of the finished gown modeled by my doll, Suzy & sent it express mail to the new mom. They loved it. It was a labor of love, a new challenge to grow in my sewing skills & a joy to sew.
Happy Sewing!
Marty

My First Baby Bonnet

About 2 wks ago, I was invited to a baby shower for the sister-in-law of a friend. She told that the baby was going to be a little girl so I decided to make a baby bonnet. I had some cotton/silk twill fabric, some bemberg lining, & lace edging. It didn't take much fabric to make this little bonnet. Not knowing how big the baby would be, I made a size large by a McCall's christening gown pattern. It only had 3 pieces to it & I didn't have much time. To make the bonnet extra special, I added Sonia Showalter's elegant cross 4x4 design. My minister explained to me that it was the Jerusalem Cross with bars showing the 4 gospels around the cross. It has 2 pintucks on each side & I used a white satin ribbon for the ties. To cover where the ribbons began, I covered them with a little lace flower. I think it came out very pretty for my first bonnet. The mom to be loved it. Now, I can't wait to make some more frilly infant clothing as I work on my first Christening gown.
Happy Sewing!

Sewing Fall/Christmas 2011

This post is about the projects that I completed in November & December ... photo heavy so please enjoy. I cannot attest to be proficient in photography & my lighting is not the best. However, enjoy these ...

Dresses for St Jude Fundraiser ... here are the drawings from designer 6yr old Lauren Lewis, a St Jude cancer patient & the completed dresses. The first dress is a drop waist out of linen top & cotton skirt in the turquoise & lemon yellow colors that the child, Lauren Lewis, chose. The second dress is a 2 pc halter dress with glitter fairy dust hot pink top & poly silk charmeuse skirt. The dresses fit the models with the halter dress being a little short as the model had grown some since her measurements were taken in the summer. The St Jude Fashion Show Fundraiser collected almost $10,000.00. The dresses were either given to the models or auctioned off (not sure what happened). I have not heard anymore about this except an email thanking me for participating.

Christmas sewing for 2011 ... gifts that I made for my family & friends ... also added the Halloween costume that I made for my daughter & a blanket that I made for a friend. For the guys in my family, I chose designs that indicate their interests & embroidered on hand towels & for the girls in my family, I chose flour sack dishtowels to embroider designs. The photo was embroidered on a flour sack dishtowel & framed in an oak expresso frame. The designs were either built into my machine or downloaded from various sites. The angel is a Martha Pullen IEC design for 2011. The shirt was a gift for a friend. I had so much fun doing these gifts for family & friends.
Happy Sewing!!!
Marty