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handmade birthday gifts: embroidered
tea towels

Back in June I tried my hand at cross stitch. It didn’t turn out very well. I had a really hard time getting all of those little x’s lined up. In hindsight, I think I needed to use different fabric—something with more of a grid-like structure. I really loved the idea of a customizable tea towel so I didn’t give up!

embroidered tea towels

These are birthday gifts for my brother- and sister-in-law. They have very diverse interests: he’s a city guy who loves playing his guitar and she’s a country gal who loves riding her horse.

Embroidery is so cool! It lets me make matching gifts for two people with completely different favorite things. Seriously. Where can you find matching music/horse anything?

Here’s a close up of the guitar. The artwork is from Sublime Stitching. All of Jenny Hart’s stuff is so cute!

sublime stitching jenny hart guitar teatowel

Here’s a close up of the horseshoe. The artwork is from some clipart on my computer. I had to simplify it a bit before I could use it for stitching.

sublime stitching jenny hart guitar teatowel

Aren’t those french knots cute? Now I am totally in love with stitching and I can’t wait to try something else!

project notes: Tea towel pattern from Linen, Wool, Cotton. Guitar from Sublime Stitching. Linen fabric and embroidery thread from my stash.

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wardrobe refashion: dressing up a pair of flip flops

What kind of shoes should a three-year-old girl wear to a beach wedding in October? Will the weather be warm or cold? Should the shoe be casual or dressy? Should you invest in sandals that will probably be too small by next Spring? Where are you even going to find sandals this late in the season?

I decided to take some simple, casual flip flops and dress them up. Here is the before picture:

dress up a pair of flip flops

Step 1
I took four strands of embroidery thread and weaved them through the existing stitches with a needle.

dress up a pair of flip flops

Step 2
I crocheted a flower and stitched a button on the center. Then I sewed the flower onto the strap.

dress up a pair of flip flops

Step 3
I tried to get my daughter to wear them, but she wasn’t interested at all. In fact, she wound up wearing her sporty little sandals with her cute frilly dress. I guess I can always remove the flowers and put them on another pair of flip flops next season.

dress up a pair of flip flops

refashion: I used embroidery thread, cotton yarn and vintage buttons from my stash. The flip flops came from Once Upon a Child. The crochet flower pattern is from My Crochet Stuff.

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my creative space

linen tea towels and wool knit gloves

Today my creative space is filled with gift making. I’m embroidering, sewing, and knitting and having so much fun! Unfortunately, I can’t show you more until after the gifts have been delivered.

I can tell you that I am making more tea towels and really need to get practicing with that rolled hem foot again. I’d really like to make some more towels and napkins for my family. They don’t need to be fancy, but we should be using them more than we use paper towels and napkins.

Visit more creative spaces over at Kirsty’s blog.

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new skills: satin stitch and cross stitch

June is a hard month for me to have a craft blog. I’m busy with birthday, Father’s Day, and anniversary gifts. Throw in the occasional June wedding and there’s not a lot of time left for non-secret crafting. Most of this month’s posts will probably be close-up shots. At the end of the month, I’ll do a full reveal!

Project #1 required two new stitches for me: satin stitch on the machine and cross stitch by hand. Both are taking a lot of practice.

My machine’s tension is very sensitive. One millimeter in the wrong direction and I get a tangled mess. Here is the wrong side of my practice fabric. The one on the bottom left was the best I could get.

satin stitch

Here are the finished stitches before pressing. (The iron was off at this point and I was too lazy to turn it back on for a photo.)

satin stitch

Here are my attempts at cross stitch. After my first two tries I went back to what I know best: the running stitch and back stitch.

embroidery

I think the single strand cross stitch initial is my favorite, though. I just need a little bit more practice.

satin stitch

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embroidered handprint for mother’s day

bella's handprint

My mom really wanted a handprint of Bella. When she last came to visit, she spent a lot of time tracing Bella’s hand, along with Pete the Penguin’s wing and Puppy the Dog’s paw, of course. I traced one of those handprints onto some muslin and embroidered it. It turned out way cuter than I thought possible. I made one for my mother-in-law and hope to make one for myself.

bella's handprint

notes: embroidery hoops from goodwill craft bin, muslin and embroidery thread from my stash, inspiration from plumpudding