Long Armed and Legged Memory Bear Made from a Work Shirt

  

 

Memory bears are great items to help remember a lost one by using pieces of clothing they used to wear.  Given as gifts to babies or children or a cute memorial items for someone to have out in sight, but this bear was one of the most emotional ones I've made and was literally designed to be used a true therapy item.  There was a younger woman having a very difficult time getting over the very recent and unsightly loss of her husband, and instead of cuddling with the shirt all day long her sister suggested to have a bear made out of it with very long legs and arms so that she could hug it and it hug her back.  After a very emotional conversation and a few prayers, I got to working rapidly to make up this adorable long legged bear to start helping this lovely woman start healing from her loss.

 

 

 

Here was his very worn flannel lined work shirt.  You wouldn't think it would be hard to cut up a shirt that isn't your own but after hearing the stories behind the shirts or sweaters or other items, I can't help but take a moment to reflect on the life that will be represented with what I'm about to transform it into.  The two sisters had a few very specific requests for bear like very long legs and arms.  The woman wanted some of the flannel to show throw in places, she wanted one of the pockets on the tummy to be able to hold special items, and to use some of the seams from the shirt to outline the face.

 

I found a basic pattern online and modified it to create the shape of face the ladies requested and laid out the pieces on the shirt to cut them out.

 

This is the cute little fella I came up with.  I was able to use the flannel for the inside of his ears, his nose and the ends of his arms and legs. 

 

I reused buttons to create the eyes and the pocket on the tummy turned out great.

 

A little view from the back to see his nice round back.  I could machine sew all the arms and legs to the body but had to hand sew his neck to the body after stuffing it all.

 

I was even able to get the label from inside the shirt and put it on the back.

What an absolutely amazing project that I was asked to make and doing things like this for people just rejuvenates my passion for my work!

Quiet Book / Soft Activity Book for Kids

I love creating quiet books!!!  I think it comes from my original passion for scrapbooking as it has been the best way to combine sewing and scrapbooking ideas.  This fun book was created for a little girl and in a different style than I've done in the past.  I used to sew all the pages together in a quilted cover by this book is expandable with rings binding the pages so new pages can be added as the little girl grew up and wanted more challenging activities.

 

 

The cover was made of a fun cotton print that was reinforced with heavy duty iron on interfacing on the insides.  Then I sewed in a cute satin ribbon to make handles.

 

 

The first page has 9 flaps made of felt that can be lifted up to reveal some fun pictures.

 

 

As you can see, I have used some colorful novelty patterns that I cut into squares and using heat n bond light to tack down the fabric then I stitch over the edges to hold them down.

 

 

On the next pages I have an apple tree and a texture page.

 

 

The apples have Velcro on the back and can be "picked" and put in the basket at the base of the tree.

 

 

On the opposite page, I found nine different fabric types, all with different textures and colors!  Burlap, netting, corduroy, terry cloth, fake fur, satin, minky, fleece, and felt.

 

 

The next pages are super fun with a colorful felt caterpillar and a friendly spider in a bit of a shower.

 

 

The cute caterpillar are made of felt circle pieces with button holes that help little ones practice their fine motor skills with taking the circles on and off the buttons.

 

 

The colors can be mixed up on the colorful buttons.

 

 

This itsy bitsy spider has googly eyes and can climb up and down the water spout.

 

 

The rain cloud lifts up to reveal a beautiful sunshine sky.  The grass is soft and fluffy along with the frilly flower that can be "picked" by taking it off the button.

 

 

The next page features a lovely little girl with bows in her hair that can be untied and tied up again. 

 

And her long locks can be straightened out or braided up pretty-like.

 

 

Opposite the little girl was this cheeky lady bug that unzips its wings and the dots can be pulled off and stored inside.

 

 

The dots or other fun things can be stored inside the lady bug.

 

 

On the last page is the latticed pie that helps little ones play pretend but also practice their weaving skills.

 

 

The pie "crust" is made of felt and using a pinky shears you can create a fun zig zag affect on the edges.  I used a fun red swirly fabric underneath to make it look like a fruit pie.

 

 

Her you can see that I used loose binder rings that I sewed into the cover with small pieces of fabric braces to hold those rings in tight.  Each page had button holes sewn in them to fit in the rings.  The pages can be removed or new ones can be added.

Using a Multi-Needle Embroidery Machine to Create Fun Patches on Kids Jeans

Sewing on fun patches to kids pants can be difficult with a typical sewing machine but I've found that I can use my multi-needle embroidery machine to create fun patches to cover holes or to add fun appliques to add character to a old pair of jeans.

I set up a design file for the shape I wanted, in this case a simple heart shape with a bean stitch (triple stitch). 

 

Then I slip the whole leg into the arm of the machine and it's hooped up using quick connect frames with a bit of sticky stabilizer.  I run the stitching with a coordinating thread color.

Then I trimmed up the excess fabric but left about 1/4" of fabric and brushed along the edges to create a frayed look.

 

A super cute little patch in the shape of a heart and all done with my embroidery machine!!!

 

To finish them off I created a cute little fabric belt by taking a long strip of fabric, turning right sides together and stitching along the long side.   Turn the fabric inside out and turn in the edges and stitched them closed.  Now you have a stylish pair of pants instead of throwing out a pair of jeans with a little hole in the knees.

Embroidering a Monogram on Converse Tennis Shoes

Today I am going to walk you through how I added a machine stitched monogram to a super cute pair of Converse tennis shoes. 

 

 

 

First, you'll want to pull the laces really loose or completely out to expose the tongues of the shoes to be stitched on.  In this case this cutie pair of shoes has two tongues!!!  Today we are working on the back yellow tongue.

 

 

Next we have to remove what is probably a very expensive label.  Now you aren't limited to just converse shoes to do this too...there are generic versions of canvas shoes out there.  You removed the label by ripping out the stitched with a basic seam ripper tool.

 

 

Now I went into my embroidery digitizing software and created the monogram file according to the size needed to fit the shoe. 

 

 

To make sure the monogram is centered, I measured across the tongue with my ruler and placed a pin or you can use a fabric chalk to mark the center.

 

 

On my PE-600 Brother multi-needle embroidery machine I set up my fast frames, with a three inch hoop with sticky backing on it.  As you can see there is some impressions from the last pair of shoes I did, but you just patch up the hole with another piece of sticking backing to save on how much you need to use.

 

 

Next I pull out the tongue and place it on the sticky part of my frame making sure I have the middle lined up with the notch on the back of the frame.  I secure the tongue to the frame with binder clips and push down on the tongue to the sticky paper on the frame.  Then remove the pin.

 

 

Utilizing the outlining function of my embroidery machine, I see where the design will be placed on the tongue.  I can then adjust back and forth on the arm of the machine until I get the placement just right.

 

 

Now for the fun part!  While holding the heavy part of the shoe, I start the machine and let the magic happen.

 

 

Once the stitching is complete, I remove the shoe and frame from the machine and gentle pull the tongue away from the frame pulling away from the sticky paper which has helped hold down my shoe and stabilized my stitching.

 

 

For a finishing touch, I rub my thumb over the wholes created after ripping out the label stitching and trim up any loose strings.  Then repeat with the second shoe!

 

 

Wha-laa!!!  A super cute pair of sport shoes that have a special personal touch! 

 

If you are interested in having a pair of your shoes monogrammed, please feel free to contact me at Corrina.dea@theunlimitedstitch.com or call 309-431-0085.  I am located in Morton, Illinois so you can drop them off locally or have them shipped.

 

 

T-Shirt Rag Quilts: A Great Way to Bring Together Years of Memories

About any cloth item can be made into a memory quilt - shirts from favorite vacations, sport teams, fraternity or sororities, baby blankets, onesies, kids clothing, men's dress shirts, grandma's favorite dress and more. Don't just shove them away in a closet or the basement in a plastic bag where no one can see them and appreciate them in a new form. They be can re-purposed into a useful and precious quilt that can be giving for lots of different occasions like graduation, new baby, wedding gifts, anniversary gift, Christmas, birthday and more.

I have been truly blessed to be asked to create amazing quilts and pillows for people who have saved these special shirts for years so that they could be collectively be stitched together for their loved ones.  Let me introduce you to a few of them.

This "Bradley" quilt was made for a high school graduate who grew up loving Bradley University and then herself choose to go there for college.  I love how this quilt brought lots of great memories of this young lady's childhood with her to make even more amazing ones as she started out her life on her own.  She had a bit of "home" with her at school.

I also got to add a special rectangle with her name embroidered on it to make it extra special.

The "Cheer Time" quilt was so fun to make because it was my first dad who brought me these lovely shirts and jacket to bring together as a lovely gift for his daughter.  I loved seeing how excited he was to have all of her years in dance and cheering brought together.  I'm sure he could envision every practice he brought her to and every competition he was there to watch.

Quilts bring together all sorts of someone's interests and just fun times throughout their lives.  One of the things I love about making these quilts is the creative challenge to take a big pile of shirts and putting together a piece that looks great but also honors all the memories someone has had over so many years.

My quilts can be made in a variety of ways. I can use your shirts to make the front and the back and use soft flannel in between the squares to give it a nice comforting weight and softness. This is especially great when you are using shirts that have a fun front and a name and/or number on the back.

I can also use just the front of the shirts and use a super soft and warm fleece material on the back which makes it extra nice to cozy up with. The quilt will be made rag style, meaning that the seams will be sewn out then the edges clipped and frayed for a fun framed 3-D effect. The flannel or fleece used in the squares will show through to give a fun accent that brings the whole quilt together nicely.

Standard quilt blocks are approximately 13 inches unfinished and 12 inches finished. So a quilt that is 4 squares by 5 squares so approximately 48 x 60 " which is a great throw blanket.  But I can also make other sized squares to accommodate larger or smaller clothing items like baby onesies and more.   If you are interesting in having me create a t-shirt memory quilt for you please feel free to contact me at corrina.dea@theunlimitedstitch.com or you can order one through my Etsy shop at this custom listing:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/269612457/custom-t-shirt-rag-quilt-memory-tee?ref=shop_home_active_15 .

 

 
 

Fall in Love with Monogramming

Simply by definition a "monogram" is a design consisting of one or more alphabetic letters combined or interlaced, commonly one's initials, often printed on stationery, embroidered on clothing, etc.  (dictionary.com) but monogramming is so much more!!!  A monogram imprinted or stitched on an item gives it personality, it adds style and character, it signifies a long history of traditionally identifying one's personal belongings.  Monogrammed items also make wonderful gifts.  When giving monogrammed items as gifts there is some special etiquette rule to follow, especially when it comes to the three letter monogram which seems to be one of the most popular and trendy monograms today.

 

Monogramming Etiquette

A three letter monogram for an individual person can be listed in two ways: 

1) In the traditional Victorian format, a three letter monogram places the last name initial larger in the middle with the first name initial being first and the middle initial being last.  So with my name Corrina Marie Dea, my three letter monogram would be CDM with the D being bigger. 

2) Now if I wanted to keep all three initials the same size I would list them out in order of my name so you would put it as CMD. 

 

Three Letter Monogram for Couples

If you are giving a wedding gift to a newly married couple (or existing couple) and want to incorporate both of their names in the monogram, the etiquette honestly depends on your recipients preference.

 

1) Make it ladies first by listing the bride's first initial then the last name initial large in the middle and the groom's first initial as the last letter in the monogram.

 

 

2) If they are more Mr and Mrs, then list the groom's initial first followed by the last name initial of the couple in the larger letter followed by the lovely bride's initial.

 

It is also socially acceptable for a married woman to use her maiden name's initial as her last (third initial).

 

Single initials are fun for all sorts of gifts:

 

1) Baby items are great for a single initial especially if parents tend to use the same first name initial for all their kids.  My friend had two little girls with names starting with A and these baby burp cloths and wash cloth made a special personalized gift that got multiple uses!

 

 

2) Ladies love to have their first name initial highlighted on their handbags, scarves, hats and more.

 

3)  Add a last name initial to totes, bags, and blankets are great to highlight your family name and make it easy to identify at a group gathering (except probably a family reunion).

 

 

4)  Make a super simple little dress into a classic monogrammed gown for your little princess.

 

5) There are so many create places to put monogram to exemplify your own personal "brand" of confidence and class.

 

6)  Add monograms to bridesmaid and groomsman gifts to make the big day special for everyone.  These are super simple button white shirts I made up for a lovely bridal party that all the girls got to wear as  they were getting their hair and make up done and prepping the bride for her big day.

 

7)  This robe was a gift from a group of friends to a special woman during her fight with cancer.  If you have to go through something that doesn't feel so glamorous there isn't any reason you can look glamorous while fighting the big fight.

 

 

8)  Christmas stocking often get names added to them, but a swirly infinity font monogram is simple, classic but looks amazing when matching it up with your tree skirt with a single initial.

  

9)  Probably the funnest thing I've added a monogram to is a pair of sneakers.  This just screams, I am confident and love to stand out in the room because I'm a classy chic.

 

Monogramming has a very traditional background but today about anything can go.  Have fun with what you have your monogram put on and just get creative with fonts, colors, sizes, and placement.  Monogrammed items make amazing gifts for others and something special to do for yourself.