Category Archives: Disney

Keychains or Pack Pals–tutorial?

Posted on May 12, 2015 by | 10 comments
pack pals for Alastair and his friends

“Pack Pals” for our  grandson and his friends made entirely in the hoop of my Brother Dream Machine

 

It seems that children everywhere are dangling little characters and ornaments from their backpacks.  The description on one site tells it all:

“Want to dress up your backpack for school?  Keychains are a great way to make a statement about who you are…..Show your hobbies, express your beliefs, or tell who you are with one of our keychains today.”

Just see how many are for sale on one site alone.  Would you like a tutorial on how these can be made on any embroidery machine?

After embroidering 43 Pokemon Ninja headbands for our 6 year old grandson Alastair I made him a hanging embroidery with the text Pokemon.  It hung from his backpack and was admired by his friends.

When I offered to make more, he requested several to share with his Pokemon passionate pals.  Eleven were made, some to keep and some to share.  He is a kind-hearted, generous little guy who thinks of others far more often than I would expect from a kindergartner.

His sweet classmate  Maddie loves Frozen so he asked  if I would make some for her.  Laurel, his 11 yo cousin,  has dubbed them Pack Pals.

 

keychains

Continue reading →

10 Comments

Posted in accessories, baby accessories, Disney, Disney projects

Tagged , , , ,

Sewing Non-Stop

Posted on April 30, 2015 by | 2 comments

Sew busy!   Lately, of course, I’ve spent a lot of time getting acquainted with my new Brother Dream Machine.  But before my Dream came true,  I was kept busy with several small but important machine embroidery projects, like this one.

 

com bag text 2

The Scripture design is from Designs by Juju, in her collection Heavenly Inspirations 1. It was slightly modified to make room for the addition of the Bible design.

 

This was made for our 10 year old granddaughter, Laurel, who needed a bag to carry her sizable notebook and Bible to her weekly Communicant Class (read “confirmation”) at our church.

 

com bag mono 2

 

As you might expect, a monogram was added to the other side.  The bag has seen heavy usage these past weeks.

Another quick project was a set of whimsical luncheon napkins.   They coordinate with the Seaside Madeira Table Linens I stitched last summer.

 

The embroidery and gingham made this a more casual setting than the hemstitched linen napkins shown here.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in accessories, bags, church projects, Disney, Disney projects, embroidery blanks, home dec, linen blanks, machine embroidery, Madeira applique

Tagged , , ,

Backpack and Dingle Dangles

Posted on March 30, 2015 by | 2 comments

backpack

 

Lately, I’ve been on a Disney roll embroidering items for a good friend.   This backpack was a fearsome task, making me wonder if it was a mistake to take it on.   It brought to mind my “sewing in a cave” experience monogramming a large tote bag.  I did NOT want to repeat that.

 

 

bag cave

 

The bag was a Christmas gift for grandson Alastair’s favorite pre-school teacher.  Then I tackled another one for my dear Aunt Rheeta.  But it was no fun at all! Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in bags, Disney, Disney projects, machine embroidery

Tagged , , ,

Beach Baby Outfit

Posted on September 26, 2014 by | 7 comments
I like the way the rick rack bordered yo-yo sun turned out but wish I had placed it further to the side.

I like the way the rick rack bordered yo-yo sun turned out but wish I had placed it further to the side.

 

Though we’ve been extraordinarily busy, we took a moment to enjoy our first sort-of fall day here in Central Florida.  We actually turned off the AC and our hairy dog Hannah enjoyed napping on the breakfast porch instead of inside.

But after that brief moment, I was off to our son’s house to work on costumes.  Our 10 yo drama-loving granddaughter, Laurel, has written a woodland play which is in high gear production now.  As director, she had her cast of 8 girls alternately rehearsing and working on their leafy, nature-themed costumes.   I was busy sewing a shaggy white fleece stripe down the chipmunk’s brown hoodie and making a pastel colored mane for the unicorn. Who knew that 25 years after purchasing a fringe fork I would finally need and use it?

It was such fun to see all those junior thespians alternately rehearsing their scenes and working on their fairy, gnome, and evil witch’s outfits.  They had scored big at the local Goodwill where they found most of the foundations for their costumes.

But back to fall and the beach baby outfit. Continue reading →

7 Comments

Posted in Disney, Disney projects, infant clothing, machine embroidery

Tagged , , , , , ,

New Ariel Design and Outfit

Posted on September 11, 2014 by | 6 comments

Ariel 1

This bright little outfit features one of Disney’s favorite princesses, Ariel.  Another new Brother design, it is impressively fresh and current.

The pattern for the top is the girl’s jumper from Applique, Martha’s Favorites. Continue reading →

6 Comments

Posted in Disney, Disney projects, girls, machine embroidery

Tagged , ,

Modern Minnie Chills

Posted on September 5, 2014 by | 16 comments

minnie chill

 

Have you seen Brother’s  new Disney designs?  I absolutely love them.  So many of them are fresh and contemporary, so well suited to the styles of the day.  As you can see, Minnie is not just black and red any more, but she could still rock those colors  if you like.

 

Minnie chill emb close

Continue reading →

16 Comments

Posted in Disney, Disney projects, girls, machine embroidery

Tagged , , , ,

Pooh and Alastair

Posted on May 30, 2014 by | 10 comments

It’s been such a long time since I have posted, but I’ve been having too much fun with 5 yo grandson Alastair to sit still and write.  He  has been with us for 10 delightful days.   More on that below.

 

Pooh suit

 

Meanwhile, I did manage to sew up a little suit using a commercial pattern.  You know how those 5 for $7 patterns from  Joann’s stack up.  As always, I was in a hurry and grabbed the first one which would work.  I should have looked through my Children’s Corner and Michie patterns.  Some modification was needed to meet my vision for a fully lined project. Continue reading →

10 Comments

Posted in boys, Disney, machine embroidery, Nana fun

First Birthday Dress~Finished

Posted on January 21, 2014 by | 39 comments

UPDATE: And look at it now.

Viv "eating"Aunt Peggy's chocolate pudding. Surely a some got in her mouth.

Viv “eating”Aunt Peggy’s chocolate pudding. Surely some got in her mouth.

first birthday dress for Minnie fan

first birthday dress for Minnie fan

Our precious granddaughter Vivian Rose recently celebrated her first birthday with family and friends at a party in her own back yard.

Cousins Laurel and Alastair

Cousins Laurel and Alastair

Continue reading →

39 Comments

Posted in Disney, heirloom sewing, infant clothing, machine embroidery, Madeira applique

Tagged , , ,

1st Birthday Dress

Posted on January 3, 2014 by | 11 comments

goods VR 1 dress

It’s hard to believe grandbaby Vivian Rose will celebrate her first birthday in a few weeks.  Time does fly!  Her mother requested a Minnie Mouse dress for the upcoming Minnie birthday party.  Baby’s entire family is made up of enthusiastic Disney fans, so I am lucky to own Brother embroidery machines with built in Disney designs.

I have to admit it took a while to adapt my heirloom taste to a cartoon character dress.  But now, I think I am ready to begin.

Here’s what I have assembled.

  • Pattern:  Baby Butterflies by Petite Poche
  • Fabric: pink Pimatex from Farmhouse Fabrics,  white Swiss pique and black pima gingham from stash
  • Trims:  Swiss black entredeux and black scallop edging from stash
  • Designs:  small Minnie designs on my Brother ULT 2003D.
  • Buttons:  ooops-forgot to include those in the picture, but they are 3/8″  round, black with shanks

NOTE:  At first glance, reader Donna thought the entredeux looked like a zipper.  She’s right!  It does.  But it is NOT a zipper.

It took a while to get my mind right, but now I am excited about this project.  It won’t be traditional heirloom, but it includes enough heirloom goods and  techniques to make me comfortable.

I’m off to the sewing room to cut it out.  Yeah!  What a great project to start 2014.

What are you working on?

11 Comments

Posted in Disney, infant clothing

Cutest Little Boy does DisneyWorld

Posted on February 11, 2012 by | 2 comments

This week, my adorable grandson Alastair visited DisneyWorld for the first time.   He will be 3 next month and his parents decided that he was old enough to enjoy and appreciate this major milestone in the life of a Florida child.

Of course, as soon as the trip was scheduled, I rushed to my Brother Duetta 4500D with all its Disney embroidery to stitch a shirt for him. He loved it and I loved being able to make this little guy smile, not that it is hard.

He waited patiently for the documentation of his arrival at the castle, but was eager to move on.

At this tender age, he has not yet focused on one Disney character or another, so his shirt is a simple crest with Mickey.  I can’t wait to stitch out Pooh and Donald and the whole gang at Toon Town.  I’ve done Minnie princesses and Tinkerbell for Laurel and her doll, but Alastair is more likely to want Tigger.

Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in Disney, machine embroidery