Bird Dish Towel for Dot

Dot is my mom.  Yes, we often call her Dot instead of “mom.”  (Yes, I used the correct punctuation.  I am deliberate, people.)

This is a pattern from the Sublime Stitching Craft Pad.  I’ve modified it a touch because parts of it were irritating to me.

What's with the big squiggle?

Namely, the giant squiggle and the asymmetry of the side designs.  Here are some photos of the towel through its progression.  It took me about…4 nights?  (maybe like 6 hours?)  I dunno.  Hell, I don’t time myself.

I used one of the Country Living dish towels that I got from K-town.  It wasn’t too bad to embroider on…but I am concened about it’s longevity.

Now it needs to be washed and ironed….then I will put a big, fat D for Dot in the middle where the squiggle was.

All done!  Embroidery is finished, and it’s been washed and ironed and folded and wrapped.   I’m a little sorry that I placed it so near the bottom of the towel… my oval frames could not house the design.  I guess she could find a rectangle frame if she REALLY wanted to.  After all….it IS a dish towel….even if I don’t want to know how dirty it is going to get.  =)

Owl Softie

I like owls.  I like little dolls.  I like creepy things.  Apparently, I used to make little dolls for my aunt out of pantyhose.  It probably wasn’t even clean pantyhose.  But I digress.

I saw a design for an owl and Raccoon softie in an Aimee Ray book, and I took the basic outline and then went my own way with it.  Rules hurt my heart.  I didn’t plan what I was going to do…I kind of made it up as I went along.  I was initially thinking of putting a big bug on the belly, but I ultimately decided that would be too much and that I would save the bugs for another project.  I’ve got lots of ideas for bugs.  Don’t worry.

Blue stitching? Why not?

Ready for stuffing!

I get a big kick out of this photo.

He's a leaner.

In retrospect, I could have added a little panel on the bottom so that he could stand on his own.  As it is, he has to lean against something.  Oh well….live and learn.  Or fall flat on your face for the rest of your life…like this poor little owl.

Etsy Shop?

I’m in the process of setting up an Etsy shop.  Do I have anything to sell?  Nope, not yet!  But I have ideas.  I’m kind of stuck on a name.  I have a couple in mind, but I keep going back and forth.

I need to start bringing in an income since I don’t want to have to put my baby in daycare and go back to work full-time.  Even part-time work is shitty.  You make what…$8 and hour?  I’d probably net about $300 a week with the hours I could spare.

I’m hoping I can make at least that much selling things on eBay or making things and selling them on Etsy.  I guess we’ll see.  I’ll post a link if I get the shop set up.

Getting organized

Do I usually do titles in “title case”?  I can’t remember.  Also, I KNOW you’re supposed to include the ending punctuation within the quotes if it ends the sentence, but that annoys me.  I wasn’t trying to say “title case?”…I just wanted to say “title case”.  See what I did there?  I defied it again.

Anyways, I finally organized all my embroidery shit.  I am exceedingly proud of myself.  Here is how I was working before:

Notice the “floss organizer” underneath the pile of floss.  I bought that as a possibly organizing technique…but when I realized that would require me to hand-wind every floss color around a stupid “bobbin” in order to fit in the case, I eschewed that plan.  I hate the word bobbin, too.

Enter this awesome (even if grossly colored) new carrying case!!!!  Plus, it was an extra bonus for being on clearance for $10.  I am all about it.  Again…so proud of myself.  (But this rarely happens, so let me milk it a little bit.)

Look at that hot pin cushion!

All my shit fits!

Yeah, I know we need to cut the tags off those pillows.

Of course, I ran out of the floss-stretcher-thingies, but I’ll go get more today after my mom comes over.  I don’t mind shopping with Big G, but it’s sooooo easier to make a ton of little stops without having to strap her in and out and in and out and in and out of the car seat, cart, stroller.  I’ll bet you got tired just reading that.

WTF Dish Towels for Embroidering Review (ZOMG UPDATED)

It never ever dawned on me that I would ever be in the market of dish towel comparison.  Basically, I’m looking for plain, cheap dish towels for embroidery projects.  I really like the one from Sublime Stitching…but I don’t want to pay their $7 each price.  That’s gross.  I ordered 7 from another site…and turns out they are HUGE and square.  They are called “Flour Sack Towels” and don’t look like a dish towel at all.   Look at this crap:

WTF

(Yes, she was on her way to ruin the display.)

I went to K-town (KMart) yesterday, and picked up these seemingly perfect “Country Living” dish towels for $3.99 (set of 2).

But after washing and drying them, they already look kinda worn.  Too late, though, because I am already using one for my next project…which I can’t post yet because it is a gift and my family is extremely nosy.

I ordered a couple different kinds from a website called “EmbroiderThis” ….and here’s the verdict.

Pictured from right to left is “Natural 100% Linen Towel,” “Flat Check Dish Towel,” and “McLeod Tea Towel” in cream and then in red check.

Left to right: McLeod Tea Towel, Flat Check Dish Towel, Linen Towel

McLeod in red

I’ll spare you the close-ups of the fabric, but I don’t like the linen one at all.  While it feels fancy, and has an almost rubbery quality, it pilled up after one washing.  I am liking the other 2 a lot.  The Flat Check is obviously a more textured surface, but it looks like a nice towel.  The McLeod is my favorite, though.  It’s a good size, nice and flat, and only cost $2.75 each.  The solids (white also available) are nice for anything, and the checks (red, blue, navy also available) look good for retro designs.   I’m for ’em.   Here’s the linkie-link:  http://www.embroiderthis.com/mckito.html

I know you’re glad I wrote this post.  No need to thank me.

It’s a stump pin cushion!

Don’t feel bad.  I had to explain it to my husband, Justin, as well.  This project came out of Aimee Ray’s first Doodle Stitching book.  I needed a pin cushion (not really) and since I’m poor and I like all things woodland, I tried my hand at this.  I’m sorry that I didn’t take pictures while it was in progress, but I promise to do so in the future.  (I have a baby, so don’t hold me to that.)

If I were craftier, I would have made some little mushroom and leaf pins using polymer clay.  Alas, I am lazy above all else.  I’m also hesitant to introduce those fumes into the same oven I use to cook our food.

First real project: Deer dish towel

This took a surprisingly short amount of time!  The basic deer with leaves and stems is a Sublime Stitching pattern.  I didn’t feel like cutting up the transfer, so I traced the design onto the fabric using a wash-out ink and a light box.  Of course, I could barely see the design through the towel…but this is what I got.  I added the mushrooms at the top and the dots at the bottom.  I didn’t wash it yet… so I’m HOPING the blue marker washes out.  =)  I will update the post after I wash and iron it.  My husband wants to frame this instead of use it as a dish towel.  Go figure.

Embroidery practice

So I’m a week into learning how to embroider.  I’m surprised how much I am enjoying it!  It’s like painting but without the mess.  Ths is an old pillowcase I chopped up.  I wonder who it belonged to.  Oh well!

The basic circle design came from Aimee Ray’s Doodle Embroidery book…. but of course I embellished.