Pretty Flower Napkins

I'm a big admirer of cloth napkins. Not only are they very earth-friendly, but I feel they add a bit of embellishment to a family table.

I embroidered these for a Christmas gift (I'm not telling for who! Could it be you? Who knows!).

I just used some basic cotton dinner napkins, which I found to be very easy to stitch on. They were substantial enough that I did not need to use any stabilizer and they were able to accommodate the full strand of embroidery thread (I really hate splitting embroidery thread).

I found this pattern, once again from the fabulous Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching, to be really fun to stitch. I'm delighted with how these turned out and I can't wait to give them this Christmas!

Sweet Cherries!

I stitched this flour sack towel in the hospital while Nick was having surgery. It was a wonderful distraction and turned out surprisingly decent considering my anxiety level.

Flour sack towels are about as thin and flimsy as baby onesies, so a stabilizer was once again essential. It gives the fabric some strength and helps keep it firm, which ensures nice, clean stitching.

This was also my first attempt at satin stitching. Satin stitching is simply a way to fill in an area with solid lines. Though you could use any stitch to fill in an area, satin stitching is typically the quickest and easiest way.

I am finding there are several schools of thought on satin stitching. Outlining or no outlining, padding, etc. But I think it really boils down to personal preference. I felt like outlining here, but the urge may strike me to stitch sans-outlining some day. I'm incredibly unpredictable.

I couldn't tell you why, but I took enormous pleasure in stitching this word. Maybe it's the whimsical font or the gratifying girliness of the hot pink thread. It just looks like candy!

I am a simple creature.

Baby Onesies

My sister became a new mom a few days ago! In anticipation for the new bundle, I decided to try my hand at embroidering some onesies.

For a first attempt, these really turned out better than I ever expected.

I chose all my patterns from the Sublime Stitching book, mixing and matching to get my final designs.

Onesie fabric is very thin and flimsy; a good stabilizer applied to the back of the fabric before stitching is essential. I used an iron on/tear away stabilizer by Sulky.

I also applied a fusible interfacing to the back of the garment once finished to provide a soft surface against baby's skin. The interfacing I chose was pre-shrunk, but the garment was not and it came right off when I put it in the wash. Lesson learned: wash and pre-shrink fabrics before applying the interfacing!

I think this alien guy has to be my favorite, though the puppy is a close second. I can't wait to see these modeled on my little nephew!

Hello!

Welcome to my new blog!

This place will be dedicated to my love of stitching and all things hand made. I hope to share ideas and inspiration and encourage all of you out there to make something!

How I got started:


This was my very first stitching project (design courtesy of Subersive Crossstitch). Come on, how awesome is this? I'd never really thought about cross stitching before, but this great pattern inspired me! I had a lot of fun stitching it and I got so many compliments on the design I just had to do more.


From cross stitching, I moved on to embroidery. I *love* embroidery; it's like coloring with thread! I'm completely smitten with Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching, who's unicorn pattern I used for my first embroidery project and who's patterns really inspired me to try embroidery in the first place.

Stitching has sure come a long way since I used to watch my grandmother embroider pillowcases!

So stay tuned for more stitching!

Love,
Niki