Big Dreams Embroidery Banner

I've been having so much fun experimenting with my new embroidery machine! I'm finally able to do things I've wanted to do but couldn't with my old machine. The Brother machine is totally effortless and I'm loving it.

Although I have a huge library of designs I'm often surfing my favorite sites looking for new additions. Right now I'm really into "In The Hoop" designs. If you're not familiar they are mostly freestanding designs made entirely in your hoop then removed at the end of sewing. They usually utilize the back or underside of the hoop as well, in doing this you can make all sorts of things from, pouches and bags(think fold over wallets) to small toys and dolls, even baby booties, all in your hoop! My first "ITH" creations were these monogrammed hair clips for my daughters,

While shopping Etsy for designs, they have THOUSANDS(search Machine Embroidery Designs) I happened upon Big Dreams Embroidery(link is to the Big Dreams website where downloads are instant, you can also find them HERE on Etsy and have purchases emailed to you) My first purchase was the Candy Shop Banner. It was emailed to me within minutes, seriously like 5-10!, along with a very nice note from the owner, Kate. I had several other email interactions with Kate and was so impressed with how professional, helpful and kind she is. The design came in 4 sizes, 4,5,6 and 7 inches and was only $4.95. Next I bought the Olivia Font, Pretty Applique Font and the Love Heart Banner for Valentine's Day.

Images used with permission from Big Dreams Embroidery

I got started on my Candy Shop Banner right away, what a fun Sunday afternoon project it was. I made the first for my oldest daughter because she was so super excited about me hanging it on her wall. I ended up pretty much doing mine exactly like the one Big Dreams shows because the color scheme matched my girls' room so perfectly, I plan on using a bit more originality on my next banner :) I chose the 5 inch design and used the Olivia font for my daughter's name. The design came with wonderful step by step instructions. These in the hoop banners are a great project for both beginners or seasoned embroiderers and are perfect for decorating for everyday or special occasions. 

And now, my finished banner,

Thanks for reading!

Machine Embroidery fun!

  After discovering  that I was having a bit of a crisis over the fact that I'm turning 40 my husband  and mom decided to team up and get me something extra special for my birthday. My husband being the practical guy he is just asked me point blank what to buy. My first reaction was "oh don't get me anything, just take me out" but after some consideration I decided what I'd really like is a new embroidery machine.

  I've had several. I started with a little Brother SE-350, a sewing/embroidery machine that was very reasonably priced and perfect for a beginner. I LOVE that machine, it is a little workhorse, and so so easy to use. I used that machine until I was sure it would die of shear exhaustion. Nearly everything that I made for my Etsy shop was made on that machine. The only bad thing about that model is that the embroidery field is quite small and in order to make anything larger that 4x4 you must rehoop. Wanting a larger field I made the mistake of purchasing a Singer CE-150( i think that is the model, could be wrong) BIG mistake, it is a horrible horrible machine, in my opinion. I have since read customer reviews and so wish I would have done so prior to buying it. I could go on and on about it but I'll leave it at we were not a good fit.

  About a year and a half ago when I knew that sewing was a hobby that was going to stick I invested in a really good machine, a Bernina. I bought the whole package, including the embroidery module. I instantly fell in love with sewing with my Bernina but not so much with the embroidery module, I found the software not the most user friendly and my computer often failed to recognize the module and communicate with it. Overall, not so great. The module itself was about $1000 and I didn't want a thousand dollar piece of equipment that drove me nuts so the sewing shop offered to let me return the module and put it toward something else. I chose a Bernina serger and again fell in love. I never regretted my decision and went back to work on my Brother machine.

  Cut to now and choosing a new machine, my first thought was to get the module for my Bernina again. I was so sad to find out that the shop that sold me all my Bernina  machines had closed, they were great! I tried another local store, that shall remain nameless, and was told that the module is no longer made but they might have a floor model they could sell me, they'd look into it and call me back. They level of customer service that I received when I called this shop was no where near that of  The Sewing Room, where I had been a regular customer. While waiting for them to call me back, they never did, I started thinking of all the trouble I had with that module and got to thinking about my little Brother machine that never did me wrong.

  In the end I went with a Brother machine a few steps up from my little starter model and I am so impressed! I bought the PE-770 from Amazon, a tip from a dear friend, they are an authorized Brother dealer. The price was amazing and I got it super fast! It was up and running in no time, here she is and a sample applique, the first I tried right out of the box.

  I love that all the thread spools are hidden under the blue cover and it is so simple to use. The quality of the stitching is just incredible. I highly recommend this machine and if you've not tried machine embroidery you really should :) Especially if you're sewing for children, my kids love things personalized and I love adding sweet little embellishments to things I've sewn, once you try it it's easy to get hooked. 

  I wanted to share a few of my favorite sites for boutique-y type embroidery designs, they all have instant downloads of designs.

Planet Applique- Super cute appliques for children and great applique alphas here's a favorite right now

Applique Cafe- Great basics and specialty appliques. Good prices too! A sample design,

The Embroidery Boutique- The first site I found with great designs for kids items. I used this for a onesie for my youngest daughter and put a B in the center.

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

A little of this, a little of that.....

Somewhere there is a box full of fabulous sewing notions. Pretty ribbon trims, lovely vintage buttons, zippers, hooks and eyes, oh and I can't forget the collection of Gingher scissors and shears. Basically everything you really need to sew with the exception of a pattern and  fabric. Since we've moved I've been unable to find this box, the price I pay for not packing and moving these things myself I suppose. After yet another fruitless search I decided if I was going to sew I was going to have to replace some of my missing notions, starting with closures. 

For the last couple of years I've bought many of my sewing/crafting supplies on Etsy. Since I had shops on the site I wanted to support the Etsy community, plus both the selection and prices are incredible. I found everything I could ever need and more! I could have spent hours looking at vintage buttons alone, there were thousands upon thousands of options. I decided to pick some basics to start with, white, ivory, navy, pink and red. I got this lot of 180 ivory and white vintage buttons for $10 from Vintage Closet by LR. 

I found many similar lots, over 100 buttons for under $10. This lot of red vintage buttons was just $4.50

 For small buttons, perfect for children's clothes there is Mariiam.  There I got small lots, 8-12 buttons, for $2-3. Here are some of the many many styles they have,

Zipit, another great Etsy shop, has every size and color YKK zipper you could ever need and I've never seen better prices. I really like their mix and match packages. You choose the size and  then pick whatever color or colors you want. The price for the ten zipper package ranges from $4-$5 depending on size. Here are the color choices

While shopping on I came across a really cute and simple PDF dress pattern for my youngest daughter. It looked like something that could be versatile and easily embellished with trim, like ric rac, or maybe some embroidery. The pattern is by Pink Poodle Bows

The pattern was quickly emailed to me, this is greatly appreciated by this sewer, as I get so excited about a new pdf pattern purchase and sometimes waiting for the pattern to be emailed can be frustrating. I choose a vintage inspired Michael Miller print for the main fabric and a red and white tiny gingham for the small yoke piece. The pattern includes wonderful instructions for making your own bias binding for the armholes and straps as well as directions for putting the bias over or under the chest piece. I cheated on this one and used some bias tape I already had and I chose to put it over the chest fabric rather than under. I really liked the pattern. It included easy to assemble pattern pieces and very clear instructions for making the dress. If I had one complaint it would be that I think the armholes on my finished product are too big, or my daughter is too small, lol. She is very thin and has a tiny frame so I think I should have opted for the smaller armhole cutout even though I was making the 3T because she is probably a 2T or smaller across her chest and waist. Overall I love the end result and can see me making several of these cute little babydoll dresses with my own embellishments here and there. Here's mine!

Fabrics- Back to basics

I go through definite phases in regards to sewing. I get really into something and do that and only that until I'm over it then I move on. Sometimes it a certain type of garment, or patterns or maybe a fabric line or designer  but vintage and heirloom sewing have always been an obsession.

At the moment I'm back into vintage patterns for children. In my opinion vintage reproductions work best when done in an understated way so they're classic and modern and don't seen dated or "period piece". I think the best way to do this is with your choice of fabrics. You can't go wrong with high quality basics and for me that means sticking to solids and two timeless patterns, plaids/checks and stripes, ( a beautiful floral being the exception) in classic colors like white, navy, and pink. I love basic pastels in the spring and summer. The quality and feel of the fabric is the first thing I consider, it could be a great color or pattern but if it doesn't have the right drape and hand I'm not interested.

There are several types of fabrics I think work best for vintage and children's clothing in general.

• Pima cotton broadcloth
• Cotton sateen
• Pique
• Fine cotton shirtings
• Seersucker

You will find that all of these fabrics come in a range of qualities, and shopping online can be difficult when you can't touch and feel the fabric. It's always a good idea to look for and read reviews of sites when considering purchasing a fabric from a manufacturer you are not familiar with.

Broadcloth-

Broadcloth is a basic fabric made of a plain tightly woven cotton or cotton blend. I  stick with 100% cotton and prefer broadcloth made from pima cotton,  they look and feel best. I tend to look for broadcloths that are intended for apparel rather than quilting..You can find the best selection of high quality broadcloth at children's heirloom sewing stores. Farmhouse Fabrics has amazing high end pima broadcloth but not always the best color selection. Martha Pullen has a great selection of colors in a nice 100% cotton for $12 per yard, here are all the colors they offer,

Cotton Sateen-

Cotton sateens are lovely for dresses, they have a soft smooth hand and a slightly glossy finish and are a very nice weight, not too heavy not to light or sheer. There are stretch sateens that have a small amount of lycra, they are nice(not too stretchy) and wash and wear nicely but I prefer those that are 100%.  Navy, pink, red and white are my favorites for sateen. 

Good 100% sateens can be a little tricky to find, believe it nor not I bought a wonderful navy sateen online from Hancock Fabrics online for only $6.99 a yard I liked it so much I quickly ordered more. I recently discovered an online fabric store called Fashion Fabrics Club, they have an amazing selection of apparel fabric at unbelievable prices, like $5.00!!!! I just placed an order for several fabrics because I had to find out if the prices were too good to be true, we will see. Here is a pattern I plan on making with navy sateen, 

Pique-

Pique is a medium weight textured fabric made from cotton or a cotton blend. There are several different weaves or textures including birdseye, or princess birdseye, swiss babywale, and waffle pique. 

Princess Birdseye Pique

Waffle Pique 

Swiss Babywale Pique

I love using pique and choose it often when sewing for my girls, it's so versatile and the weight works for almost all the basics. I have used it for everything from jumpers to skirts to baby bubbles and few things are as sweet as a little white pique sundress in the summer. Swiss babywale is what I have used most often although the princess birdseye is my favorite for white garments and dressier occasions. Babywale pique has a very similar texture as babywale cord but smoother and silkier. The best I've found for swisswale is made by Fabric Finders, they are known for their high quality fabrics for children and make many of the fabrics I use.  Again, heirloom sewing stores are the best source for quality pique and most carry Fabric Finders as it is the go to brand for heirloom sewing for children. My current project is a little dress made from a vintage pattern using Fabric Finders red baby swisswale pique. Here it is, still in progress, and the pattern.

                            

Fine Cotton Shirtings-

Shirting is a tightly woven fabric with soft lustrous fabric usually made from cotton or a blend, the finest are are in Egyptian or Pima cotton and have a high thread count. They have a great drape for dresses with s full skirt, especially vintage sundresses or shirtdresses. My favorites are usually plaid or gingham. Once again Farmhouse Fabrics is where I go first for the best quality and selection.  Here are some shirtings I either have or have my eye on. 

These patterns are just perfect  for shirting.

Seersucker-

Seersucker is a fabric with a woven pucker made of cotton or a cotton blend. Seersucker is my favorite fabric for children during the summer months, I love it! There is something so sweet and refined about a little seersucker sundress and seersucker bubbles might just be my favorite thing for baby to wear when it's hot outside . It is ideal for both vintage and heirloom pieces and comes in a variety of weights and patterns as well as solids, mostly pastels. I usually choose the classic stripe that is most associated with seersucker or a check but you can find just about every color or pattern imaginable.

Nashville Cotton Seersucker in baby pink and white.

 In my opinion the Nashville Cotton produces the best looking and highest quality seersucker and offer an amazing selection of both solids and patterns, I recently heard they have or are going out of business which made me promptly order a stash of my favorites. While doing this I discovered Farmhouse had many of their Nashville Cotton fabrics on clearence(although not the classic pastel solid, stripe and check). I stepped out of the box and chose this brightly colored plaid, 

It was an unbelievable $3.51 a yard! Fabric Finders and Spechler-vogel, which is owned by Fabric Finders also offer quality seersucker in a wide range of prints and solids. Below are two of my favorite heirloom patterns for seersucker fabrics. I've made them both several times and I'm sure I'll be breaking them out again this year.

I also recently purchased these vintage patterns I plan on making for this summer in seersucker.

Now that I have my little space set up I'm so excited to be sewing again. I've celebrated by buying some new patterns and fabrics to keep me inspired. I have so many projects planned it's hard to decide which to do next after the little red dress but I'm sure I'll be blogging about it!

Thanks for reading!

Up for grabs!

While setting up my new sewing space I came across quite a few works in progress. Some were partially completed others were just cut fabric pieces i have no idea what pattern they belong to. Most will still fit my girls once they are completed but one adorable little outfit made from a 1963 Simplicity pattern will be way to small by the time the weather warms enough to wear it.

It is made of beautiful high quality navy cotton sateen and is a vintage size 2. I did  alter the pattern a bit so it's probably closer to a size 3. It buttons down the back and also has a matching little bloomer for underneath although the bloomer is not quite finished.

Does anyone have a little girl who would fit this sweet little ensemble? I can't bear to think it will never be worn. I would love to send it to the first person to contact me via email or Facebook!

vonrummer1972@gmail.com

Pattern Review-The Children's Corner "Callie"

This is actually an old post I forgot to publish. I came across it today and thought I'd go ahead and put it up.

I love Children's Corner patterns. They are timeless and just adorable. I also love how simple they are and the instructions are very clear and easy to follow, they are great for beginners. One of my favorite features is the size range included in each package. Callie goes from 6 mos up to 6 yrs covering both of my girl's sizes. There are pattern pieces for every size, no cutting one size then not being able to use the others, love that!

I found the perfect fabrics and even the cute duck buttons all bundled up in what Farmhouse Fabrics calls "Garment to Go" kits.(found in the fabrics section) Here's what it included,
"Garment to Go". "Spring Birds & Ducks" includes: 1 Yd. (60" wide) yellow corduroy; 1 yd. (45" wide) coral and yellow plaid fabric; 3 yds. white grosgrain ribbon; 3 yds. white jumbo rick rack; 10 baby yellow 2-hole buttons, 8 bird shanks & 8 duck shanks. $35.00

This pattern was a breeze and took just an afternoon. I love that  the plaid trims are all self covered and have no visible seams. This pattern has endless options and is a great canvas for monogramming or appliques. This would be a great project for someone just getting started heirloom sewing. I plan on using Callie over and over again. It is perfect for any season, on it's own in the warmer months and with a T or turtleneck and tights/leggings in the Fall and Winter. Perfect for holidays too, I'd love to do one in velveteen with tartan trim for Christmas, maybe adding a cute holiday applique.

Here is my finished Callie.

Callie by Children's Corner is one of the most versatile and simple to construct patterns I've ever used and as a result I have purchased many of their other patterns and been equally pleased. Here is a link to the Children's Corner section at Farmhouse, they carry the best selection I've seen, even out of print patterns.

Thanks for reading!

Free tote pattern from Oliver + S

While catching up on some of my favorite sewing blogs I came across this great freebie from Oliver + S

Here is the link to the free pattern,   Mother Daughter Tote by Oliver + S

I also added some new sites and blogs that I've recently discovered to my side bar, check them out!

Choosing the perfect Party Dress

I have a tendency to procrastinate or get sidetracked when it comes to my sewing projects and since my daughter's birthday is in April I figured I best get started now. I have found quite a few options but can't seem to choose just one. My daughter of course loves them all and has been little help in narrowing it down.

I want to do something vintage with a sweet little bodice and full skirt in either a sweet plaid or gingham or a sateen with a slight sheen.

I found a gorgeous vintage inspired(or perhaps a reproduction) dress pattern at Farmhouse Fabrics by Sew Beautiful, coincidentally it is called the Natalie, my daughter's name.

Isn't it just beautiful? You can purchase it HERE. I purchased the pattern and read over the instructions and it might be an ambitious undertaking so I'm not quite sure I have the confidence to go for it.

I also found some adorable options on Etsy are not as much of a challenge but I love them all and don't want to choose just one, maybe a wardrobe change mid-party is in order :)

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So how in the world do I choose just one? Anyone have a favorite?