Teeny-tiny formalwear

Most of my friends are having girls it seems, but a boy or two has popped up. Here's a quick way I found to make some manly-cuteness that is baby approved.



I found some fabric, attached it to the onsie with wonder under, then embroidered it around the edges and created a mock collared shirt with some black floss. Voila! Baby formalwear!

Birdie Bag and grandma time

I spent the weekend with my grandma a few weeks ago. We made a dress, a pair of boxers and a sling bag. She was generous enough to let me dig through her scrap stash and snag some buttons from her incredible collection after I realized in my moving fervor that I'd thrown all of mine in a bag of stuff to go to Goodwill back in Florida.



We traded stories, we watched her soaps, we discovered the wonders of electric scissors, we learned how to make gussets and stitched up a storm in the basement. My grandma is my handcrafting idol, and idol in general, really. Who else can make a purse out of an old ice cream container? My grandma can!
So fresh from my trip to Missouri, I dug out the sewing machine this week and put together my own sling bag.



I used some birdie fabric I found on my trip to San Francisco last year and one of her antique buttons. I even put in a couple of pockets inside. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that large, cavernous bags should always have a handy cell phone pocket near the top.

Happy Stitching!

Baby Buddha

Still in my quest to fulfill baby gift obligations, I broke into my packet of Sublime Stitching embroidery patterns again (the one I bought years ago and forgot about!) and dug up a spare onesie to make this sleeping Thai buddha fabulousness. Just looking at it makes me want to take a nap.

Love leads the way

While volunteering at Handmade Mart last weekend, I came across these necklaces from bluGrn Design. I really couldn't decide which of her cute necklace creations was my favorite, until I stumbled across her compass necklaces.
I can't tell you how many times, since moving to DC, I've popped out of some Metro Station somewhere wondering where the heck I was and how to get to the place I'd seen on the map. So often there's two or three exits for the metro, so it can be very confusing for a newcomer. So when I saw a necklace with a compass on it, I was sold. I also got one for my fabulous friend Kella, who always leads me in the right direction.

Cute AND practical-- my dad would've been proud.

Embroider-ama!

Ok, so ALL the friends seem to be getting preggers with little girls this year. So I'm having fun throwing together some onesies for the little ladies that are coming soon-- or should have already have been here by now.

(I'm looking your way, Tal-- how about a nice spicy burrito to speed that along, ladyfriend?)

So here's two of the creations I've been working on in my craft corner lately.

When my grandma was down at my house in Florida last December, she taught me to make fabric flowers. So I went to town and made a ton of them. I attached them to the onesie with buttons and then I curled the embroidered stems around to the back so it makes them look like they're growing out of the baby's rear end. Cute on baby-- funny for parents.




That little experience taught me that embroidering on knits can be a bear, but possible. I was able to avoid that on the second one by embroidering the pink skull (design courtesy of Sublime Stitching, of course!) on a piece of white cotton and simply sewing it onto the front with some matching pink floss.


So hopefully the next ones will be even better and more fun. It's a learning process but a very fun and soothing one!

Sew Sublime

If there are crafty ladies out there that STILL haven't heard of Sublime Stitching-- then consider this your education. Jenny Hart was kind enough to teach a hands-on workshop on embroidery at Summit of Awesome last week and while I hate to admit it, I'd bought a kit of hers five years ago from Butterfly Tattoo that I never touched. Even worse-- I admitted it to her! Even with her careful instructions, I was a little intimidated. Embroidery always looks so hard, but after her quick tutorial I learned that it's actually so, so easy. And soothing. And a great flexible crafty medium you can do so much with! LOVE IT!

Check out Jenny's recap of the Summit of Awesome here and go embroider yourself a pink skull and crossbones next time *you* need a minute to relax.

On hiatus

Hello Crafters! Modern Stitches is taking a spring hiatus. Once my machines and fabric stash are unpacked in DC, I'll be back up and crafting again. Check back in May for fresh new creations!