The director contacted me to see if I was available and I said yes. As I told a friend/coworker if I knew last year, that my aunt would have been sick, I would not have volunteered to help. Not because I didn’t want to help, but there was so much going on that making time to sew those costumes took a lot of effort. It was a challenging time for our family and the last thing I wanted to do was to design and sew costumes, but I’d promised to create the costumes and I don’t like backing out of an obligation. Lord’s willing I won’t have the same issues as last year and I’ll be able to design and sew the costumes without any complications.
I’ve been wanting to sew something for several weeks and until now, my schedule has stepped in the way, but not today. I took the day off, so I could hang out with my daughter. We’ve had a blast! In a few hours, I’m planning to pull out one of my Brother sewing machines later today and doing something that I enjoy. Parent’s need time to do things they enjoy also.
If you were to make a surprise visit to our home (on a evening or weekend) you’d find our home buzzing with creative activities.
This is my computerized Brother PC 420. You don’t have to use the foot peddle with this machine, you just press a button and the machine will sew for you, but my daughter loves the foot peddle!
Naturally, I’m one proud mamma! She handled my Brother PC-420 like a pro.
The most recent project my daughter completed was a case for her Wacom Splash tablet. You can see her sewing the fabric (the wrong sides are showing) in the above photos.
She’s been thrilled with how quickly she’s advanced with her sewing. I told her that her first “big project” could be leggings. She wears those a lot.
Guess who?Sewing project: My daughter is proud of her pillow case!
Before sewing the tablet cover, she completed the above pillow case. Notice a theme? My daughter loves pink.
My daughter didn’t use a pattern for her two sewing projects. I had her measure the pillow and tablet, write the measurements on paper and then I helped her draft a pattern from that. She was thrilled with how simple it was to complete. I did tell her that pattern drafting can get complicated, but once you’re comfortable with doing them, it’s no big deal. It just takes practice and it’s important to not rush… take your time!
Knitting: Knitting the final rows of my checkered cowl.
If I work on it today, I should be finished since I only have about six rows to knit.
Whomever is the recipient will have a nice cowl. I used my size 4 Hiya Hiya knitting needles with worsted wool. Because of the small needles used, it’s made the fabric dense. Which will be perfect for keeping out the cold.
One of my daughters favorite items is a lovely spring jacket that she recently received. Today, on the way to school I asked her would she like me to embroider something on the back of the jacket. “Sure mom, but you have to use silver thread so it compliments the design on the front!” I believe I can handle that. Initially I was planning on purchasing some more embroidery thread for this project but then I realized that I have some silver grey embroidery thread! That’s money saved. If I have time this weekend, I’ll design/sew her a new dress! A few months ago, purchased some lovely fabric. I had her in mind when I bought the fabric. Hopefully, I’ll be able to sew a dress for her this weekend; with her help.
It’s hard to believe that this May my daughter will be ten years old. Because she’s such a talented artist, she usually receives something craft related so she can let her imagination soar. This year she’ll be ecstatic since I’m going to give her my Brother SE400. It’s the perfect first machine since it sews and embroiders.
My daughter has asked to “borrow” this machine a few times already since I purchased the sewing/embroidery machine in January 2013. She likes that she can sew and embroider with one machine. I’ll have to purchase a sewing table to set into her room. I must say I’m looking forward to seeing her expression when she sees the machine in her room. I purchased an extended warranty, so even if it gets “sick” she’ll be up and running with her sewing machine in no time.
Currently she’s only sewn small things, but this weekend she’s stepping it up by making a simple skirt. She’s helping me draft a pattern (might as well teach her pattern drafting) and hopefully she’ll be able to finish the skirt this weekend.
Of course this means I’ll be without an embroidery machine, but I plan to upgrade to a Brother PE770. It takes a larger hoop 5×7, the Brother SE400 only takes up to a 4×4. I have a few other things planned for my daughters birthday and with the exception of one Monster High doll, the other items will either be made by myself or involve me adding to her crafting stash. I love that my daughter enjoys creating thing with her hands!
I saw the design, Stitchy Bunny, at the Urban Threads website. I thought it was really cute. I swapped the colors used in the featured sample and sewed the embroidered design you see above.
This is Urban Threads “Stitchy Bunny”. I didn’t embroider this, it’s the sample that is featured on their site.
My daughter thought the above sample was “creepy.” I liked it, but she was happy with the color changes I made to the embroidered design.
She’s excited that is finally warm here in Maryland since she can now wear the t-shirt as a regular shirt. I’m really enjoying my Brother SE400, my daughter hopes I outgrow the machine. It can only embroider in a 4×4 area, because I told her if I upgrade I’ll give that Brother sewing/embroidery machine to her.
This past week has been extremely busy and unfortunately I didn’t even get to sew the Easter dress for my daughter. We had a slight change in plans since my six year old nephew was visiting us and so my free time was spent including him on the activities that my daughter and I do. He had so much fun during his week long visit, and so did we.
Urban Threads – Mustang Sally UT1283. I didn’t embroider this one, just want to show how it looked before I switched the colors.
My nephew loves cars, so yesterday I purchased this embroidered design, “Mustang Sally” from Urban Threads. Just to clarify, the above Mustang, isn’t what I embroidered, it’s the sample that is featured on the Urban Threads website. They had a few car designs on their site, but he liked this one the most. He wanted his car to be red and since I have plenty of embroidery thread, my “toughest decision” was deciding which colors to use.
Brother SE400 – Embroidering a car
Yesterday morning, I pulled out my Brother SE400, uploaded the design to my embroidery machine and let it start sewing. My nephew and daughter hovered around while it was sewing. My nephew is fascinated with my sewing embroidery machine (Brother SE400) and was excited to see the design come to life.
Eventually, I’ll write a review about the Brother SE-400. I’m really impressed with the embroidery function. In fact, that’s all I use the machine for, embroidery. The few issues I’ve ran into while using the machine have all been my fault and were easily fixed. With the above design I used two pieces of stabilizer (top and bottom of the t-shirt). When I embroidered the doll design on one of my daughter’s t-shirts, I’d only used it on the bottom of the t-shirt and thought it might actually look nicer if I added it to the top of the t-shirt also… I was right.
My Brother SE400 did an amazing job with this embroidered car.
It took over an hour to complete, but he was thrilled with his embroidered car t-shirt! Embroidery or embellishments are simple ways to dress up a plain t-shirt. The embroidered design isn’t the only item created yesterday.
Yesterday, when we took my nephew back to New Jersey, I was able to complete another small project. This time it involved knitting!
Knitting: Simple ribbed beanie hat for a NICU baby
Since I didn’t drive there, I kept my hands occupied knitting this simple ribbed beanie hat. I’m thinking I’ll crochet some type of embellishment to the hat or perhaps crochet a fancy border onto the hat? Who knows…
My nephew liked the hat and promptly put it on his head. Red just happens to be his color. I must say he looked a bit silly with the tiny hat on his head. I let him wear it for a bit but eventually took it away with the promise I’d make him an appropriate hat. I already gifted him with a knitted hat while he was here, the funny thing is when I made that hat I had no idea who I was making it for. I tucked it away knowing that eventually it’d find a home. My nephew is thrilled since it looks similar to the knitted hat I made for my father (his grandfather.)
I started another knitted hat, but wasn’t able to finish it since I drove back to Maryland from New Jersey.
The past several weeks, my free time has been focused on sewing costumes for the Passion Play. I could have been reimbursed for the material that I’d purchased for the play but I decided that the money and time spent making the costumes would be my gift to the drama ministry at our Lutheran church. As much as I enjoyed creating the costumes, I’m so glad they’re finished! Now, I can focusing on making items for my daughter and myself.
Remember that vintage skirt marker I purchased? I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet. I guess it’s not surprising since my focus has been on designing and sewing Passion Play costumes. Also, my six year old nephew is here this week! Naturally, this means my time is limited as I spend time with him and my daughter. We’ve done a lot, and over the next week or so I’ll share photos of some of the things we’ve done. While they slept, I have been able to work on my knitted blanket!
I must say, that I’m looking forward to testing it out since that skirt marker is excellent if you don’t have someone to help you mark a hemline. In addition to that marker, a few days ago I purchased another vintage marker, the only difference is it uses pins to mark the hemline. It’ll be perfect when I’m working on outfits for daughter or when I’m making outfits for myself.
How did I end up with two vintage markers? I wasn’t thrilled with the current I’ve seen in the local fabric stores most seem cheaply made, and are made from plastic. I did some research on “vintage skirt markers” and that’s how I found them. The latest one I’m receiving uses pins to mark hems. Which works perfectly if you have a dress form or someone to assist. I’m thinking skirt marker that uses pins, will be a great opportunity to show my daughter how to mark hems correctly.
Both of the vintage skirt markers were made in either the the 1940s or early 1950s. Since they’re made from wood and metal, they’re sturdier that the current ones I’ve seen.
My daughter and I had a lot of fun, but completely forgot to do any sewing with my 
