embroidered onesies - tutorial

Embroidery is an easy way to personalize and beautify simple items. It is especially nice for anything baby related. For this project I picked up a couple of white onesies for about $5 and turned them into something a little more special. 

To start out find the center of your garment so you know where to place the wording. Then using your embroidery hoop to stabilize the garment lightly write out the word you want to embroider in pencil. I write so lightly that you can barely see it but it's enough to guide you and then it will come out easily in the wash. You could also find some word art online to help you design your embroidery but I just free hand it. 

I used a simple back stitch for this. It is the most basic of stitches but it is nice and neat and for a lightweight garment like this it seems to work best. Just remember that when you are starting your first letter that you go one stitch length in from the bottom so you can back up to where you actually want the first stitch to be. 

The felt flowers are simple to make and you can find good tutorials for them here and here.

This kind of project makes for a great baby gift and of course you could personalize the garment with a name. 

I'm sharing this project at some super cool link parties - check them out. 

quilted laptop sleeve

I got a new laptop a couple of months ago and up until recently I have been carting it around without any protection - shame on me. I had a couple of hours to spare the other day so I whipped up this little item from some bits and pieces I had in my stash. It is so easy to make a lap top sleeve I think I will post a tutorial so anybody can make one. Watch this space...

  You need no longer neglect your laptop.

I used a free quilting technique on the sleeve. It is so easy to do and you don't have to be bothered with drawing lines or concerned about making mistakes - just let your needle run free man! 

I had my laptop at class the other night and when I took it out of my bag a classmate complimented the sleeve and asked me if I bought the sleeve on Etsy. Why no, I said, I made it myself!

Candy Corn Hat Tutorial

Here is the hat I knit for my son. It's supposed to be candy corn! I think it's adorable but I would, wouldn't I? Want to make one for your sweetness? Here is the tutorial.

Golden Cowl

Okay, forgive my lame attempt at modelling but how else could I show this gorgeous cowl neck scarf that I knitted? I used a pattern I found on ravelry.com called Gap-tastic Cowl. Jen Geigly wrote the pattern and basically copied the cowl that is sold in the Gap. I used a different wool type than she recommended and I have to say I would have preferred a chunkier knit. I plan to make another one so I will use her recommended brand next time. I can never tie a scarf in the "cool way" so a cowl is easy to wear not to mention stylish. 

The wool I choose is Harvest Gold and I like it because with the delicate color I felt it could be a day or evening scarf. I am also going to make one for my son, easy to keep on and wrap around his little neck - no drafts allowed. It is just turning colder here and the leaves are beautiful. It's the perfect time for knitting and creating.

quilting tip

Lately I have been working on some projects that require quilt stitching either on the diagonal or straight across and I came up with a way to ensure the lines are straight and equally spaced - painters tape! I have a stockpile of various different widths of painters tape from past painting projects so they can be switched out depending on the desired space between lines. The great thing about painters tape is that it doesn't leave any sticky residue on the material as something like duct tape might do.

I line up the tape with the straight edge of my material and then sew along the tape edge. When that line is finished I just move the tape down and sew again.

Easy peasy!

mother's day gift

In Ireland Mother's Day is in March so I only have one mother to plan for this weekend - my mother-in-law. I decided to make a variation on a project my inspring neighbour Cheryl has on her blog, aprettycoollife.com. You can see her project here which I adapted to make quilted placemats.

M.O.L. loves shamrocks, so much so that even her license plate says SHMRK. I used 'shamrock inspired' material on one side and a more traditional pattern on the other side creating sort of a day-to-evening look.

This was an easy project and only took a few hours to complete. I hope she likes them!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there. We rock!