Well, another Christmas has come and gone. I didn't sew too much for presents. Everyone got something homemade though. Everyone got pillowcases this year. I made Taylor and Conor's first. My husband told me I was not to put Conor's name on his. "Don't even put a C on it" he tells me. He thinks having your name or initials on your clothing makes you less of a man. When I purchased my new machine, I was given the instructions that I was to never put my husband's name on anything.
When it came time to make Whitney and Joshua's gifts, I didn't know what to do. It's not like Conor's gift. He's in a dorm, Jeff didn't want him to be made fun of. Well, that isn't the case for Joshua. In the end, I succumbed to Jeff's thought's on manhood. I did feel that having his/hers pillowcases wouldn't be that bad. The font used is called Pharmacy. It's a great font. I bought that from Jolsen's. For the most part, all the letters are the same size, no matter if it's a large case or small case letter.
Finally for Lauren's gift, my friend Yvonne and I stopped off at
Mill House Quilts in Waunakee, Wi on the way to Madison to pick up Taylor and Conor for Thanksgiving break. We both ended up breaking the bank at this shop. I found this lingerie fabric and knew that I couldn't leave the store without at least one yard of it. The alphabet is from "From the Needle of Anne". It's called the Girlfriend Alpha. Anne's designs are quite lovely.
The black polar fleece scarf was actually a St Nick gift for Lauren. I forgot to put it in the box though. So she'll have to wait until next December to wear it. I sometimes hem and haw about the design size. I'm fearful of going to big. Remember the little pink onsie and tutu from this past summer? I put a princess design on it and I was afraid to go big. I used the design for the 4x4 hoop and once finished, I was sorry that I didn't use the 5x7 hoop. Well, same story here. I should have used the design for the next size hoop. I thought Lauren wouldn't wear it if it had a big Santa hat on it. What am I thinking? She may not wear it with the small Santa hat! Anyway, the design is from Five Star Fonts.
I don't do a lot of free standing lace designs. I really don't need multi-colored lace bowls and doilies around my house, but too each his own. I do like the ornaments though. When I can, I like to include a handmade ornament on a gift. The designs are from Stitch Delight. I'm quite happy with them. I made the peacock ornament for Joshua. I was afraid to try the design with metallic thread. Metallic thread is known to shred and cause major frustration. I decided to slow the machines speed down by three notches. I stopped the design when it was time to switch to the metallic thread and inserted a metallic needle. Perfect results. I think slowing the speed really help the thread from not shredding. I'll have to make some more of these. The metallic thread is so expensive so it's nice to have something to use it on. There are some loose threads on the ornaments. I probably should have trimmed everything up before I took the picture.
