Crayola Kayla

 I've had this design on my to-do list for a year now. I worked it up in my software but when I finished putting it together in the computer, I came to a halt. This design has maybe 45 thread changes. That is a lot. For me, that's about a two hour commitment at the machine. But there was a challenge over at Applique Forum to use a design that is at least six months old that you purchased but haven't stitched out. Well now was the time to cross it off my list.

 I hope that Kayla likes wearing it since I was excited to finally have finished it. The Crayola Alpha is by Planet Applique.

Barnyard Birthday For Brissa

Lauren is using more models to promote her site. One of the babies was having a farm themed birthday. Mom sent Lauren a copy of the invitation. So we decided to do use this cow design. The invitation was very different. Mom had used several fonts. One of the fonts was Pharmacy. I have that embroidery font from Jolson's so I knew I had to incorporate that into the design.

 

The little cow design is from Applique Chick. The "Two" is Jack N Jill from Planet Applique. 

Bit's and Pieces

On Lauren's tutu site, she offers a corseted top to wear with a tutu. The red top is her biggest seller. She sells it without a design but a couple of moms have asked for something on the top. So I stitch out the design and send the piece to Lauren to complete. I would offer to complete the top but she's merged several patterns to create the look she wanted and I didn't want to get her instructions on the phone.

The balloon design is Planet Applique. The font for Anyla is Steinweiss from Hang to Dry. Gabby's font is Boyz are Gross by 8 Claws and a Paw.

I think we spend too much of our profit shipping things back and forth between Wisconsin and New York. Either I need to learn how to make hair bows and tutus or she needs to purchase an embroidery machine.

Hoo's in the Forest?

Whimsical Fabrics was having a sew-a-long several months ago. This was my first time for a sew-a-long. I finished after the deadline. The pattern used is Macy's Giggles by Izzy and Ivy. This dress used a lot of fabric. I used the size 8 for Kayla and it is big on her. I think she'll be able to wear a long sleeved shirt underneath for school and be fine. Then by next summer, the dress should fit as a sundress. The fabric line is Hoo's in the Forest by Riley Blake. Riley Blake puts out some great whimsical prints. The little owls on the branch design is from Applique Junkie and the hedgehogs on the pockets are from Planet Applique.

The Gumball Outfit

I've been wanting to try my hand at a vinyl design. The gumball design was the perfect choice. The applique is from Planet Applique.

Now, what better to go with this shirt than a........................BUBBLE SKIRT!

The pattern is McCalls 6276. The pattern may look familiar to you. I made the ruffled skirt several months ago for my niece.

My niece loves this outfit. My sister sent an email that she wore it all weekend. She had two parties to go to and she wore it to both parties.

The Branding of Kayla

 Every fashionista deserves to have a brand, right? I've been thinking about this for maybe a year now. I wanted to experiment with making a brand for my niece. So off and on I've been playing with fonts and putting letters together and working on names. Of course I didn't bother to get my niece's input or my sister's for that matter! I tried working with Kayla's last name and the monogram just wasn't quite right. So I had to venture down a different path. I had to give Kayla's brand a name. So Kayla Couture (and so much more!) it was.
 My goal is to use her logo on more of her dress garments, not so much her play wear. The font that made the final cut was "Just Another Serif" from 8 Claws and a Paw. Too, too bad that Chanel has the best logo around and I couldn't use that. Drat.

Alright, let's look at some of Kayla's garments and accessories. I think every couture house has some very basic, chic black and white ensembles. This outfit was one of the very first that came to my mind. I got this fabric in the clearance bin. Quite honestly, I get a lot of Kayla's specialty fabrics in the clearance bin. Cottons cost a fortune but nicer garment fabric I can get for cheap. Too bad for the industry that people don't use the fabric but I luck out with some steals. Back to Kayla's outfit. I immediately thought she needed a pencil skirt to go with this t-shirt. I spied the fabric at Joann's I think. It might have cost me $1 or $2 to make. The pattern that I used is McCalls 6274. If you look at the pattern, the skirt kind of has a safari feel to it. Well all I had to do was to omit all the pockets. Viola! Pencil skirt!

Here is my version of the pattern. What do you think?

Notice her logo at the bottom of the skirt?

Doesn't this dress look huge? I made it a size 8 so it will work for back to school. This pattern is New Look 6018. This pattern is now out of print. I'm grateful that I purchased it when I did.

Now for some accessories. A sunglass case.

A summer hat.

A beach tote.

Finally, this is for Kayla's mom. I figured my sister needs a lingerie bag to wash Kayla's shirts in.
The Frame is the Mia frame from Planet Applique.

Well, that's it for now. I have a few more ideas for Kayla Couture. Stay tuned!

A Buzz Lightyear Birthday

A few months ago I did a birthday shirt for a little gal turning one. She is the daughter of one of my daugther's friends. Unfortunately, I did that shirt the day I was leaving for New York. I forgot to take a picture of it. Well, Lindsay (mom) asked if I could now do a shirt for her son who was turning three. Lindsay did most of the work. She ordered the fabric and t-shirt and had it delivered to my house.

Sean is a big Buzz Lightyear fan. Lindsay found the fabric at Joanns.com. Too bad she had to buy two yards of the fabric. I didn't want pretty much two yards of fabric to go to waste. The applique uses maybe seven inches of fabric. So I decided to make him a pillowcase.

 The applique three is the Yonder font from Planet Applique. For Sean's name I used a new font called Tangerine by Trendy Stitches. Finally, the font used on the pillowcase is Pharmacy from Jolson's.

 This pillowcase took forever to do. The name had over 25000 stitches in it. I knew that it would be a large job but I really wanted his name to be as large as possible. I really hope little Sean likes the pillowcase. Buzz is pretty small on the applique but hopefully he has fun falling asleep on this.

A Birthday Onsie for Stacy

My daughter Lauren called and asked if I could make a onsie for her. She was making a birthday tutu for someone and wanted a onsie that would match. The tutu will be turquoise, hot pink, orange, green and yellow. We decided to do this little birthday balloon. The design is smaller than I like. But bumping the design up to the next larger size would be too big and I didn't want to deal with a large embroidery hoop on this little garment.

 

This font is called Girls and it's from 8 Claws and a Paw. It's a gorgeous font. The balloon is from Planet Applique.

Snowflake Towel

Are you a clearance shopper like I am? Sometimes that can be a burden. You come home with some fantastic deals and now the challenge is where to store the stuff. Taylor and I went to Target last year the day after Christmas. We came home with some super duper sales. I'm usually not a Target shopper. But this past year, I've scored some decent bargains for embroidery. I purchased two of these snowflake towels for a song. I just purchased this snowflake font from Planet Applique and decided to use that one for Kayla's towel.

 Will anyone else be at Target on December 26th?

Sugar and Spice Ensemble

It's funny how an idea develops. I saw a piece of this fabric at a quilt shop near Madison. There was about a yard and a half left of it and no other companion pieces left in the store. I had to then go on a mission to find more of this line. The line is called Sugar and Spice from Riley Blake. I ended up buying a few yards off of Etsy and a few yards from Whimsical Designs.

My goal for the outfit was to have a skirt that had kind of a Christmas feel to it. You can see this isn't Christmas fabric but with the red and aqua colors it could lend itself that way. I purchased two aqua shirts from Old Navy but ended up only using one. I wanted to get away from always using a white shirt but the design just didn't pop on the aqua. So back to white it was. You really can't tell that the design on the aqua shirt it Christmas candy. Well I guess that will make it easier for my niece to wear it longer than the Christmas season.

Now for the important parts. The mint applique is from Planet Applique. The "K" is the Jack and Jill font from Planet Applique. The font for Kayla is called Sammy from 8CAAP and finally the raggy flower is from Hang to Dry. I really like how the white shirt pops those colors out.

The pattern is McCalls 6276.

Baby Isabella, A Hungry Badger?

 

We have a new baby in the business family. One of Jeff's employees is now a proud father. These are some things I made for her. 

We live in the Badger state, Bucky Badger that is. So the bib is a take on the Wisconsin Badgers and that little YouTube video on the Honey Badger. When I was thinking about a baby gift, I thought I would do a badger applique. This design is from Embroidery Library. Then the idea hit me to use the phrase from the honey badger but turn it into the hungry badger. I believe I used Leon from 8 Claws and a Paw for the saying.

  

I put the same applique design on this little onesie. I used a font from my software package, can't remember which one though.

The little polka dot frame is from Embroidery RN. I can't remember which font I used for the letter "I".

Of course some burp cloths. The large monogram is Sweet Varsity from Planet Applique. The small font is the Steinweiss Script from Hang to Dry. I love that font.

Little buggy design is from Planet Applique.

This cute cow design is from Applique Chick. Jeff and his employees are agronomists that work in the dairy industry so I had to have something dairy related.