Machine Embroidery

About a year ago my sister-in-law let me borrow her sewing machine that does embroidery. I haven’t figured out all the features yet but it has been fun to play around with the different options. Every time I use it for a project it sparks about a thousand different ideas.

One of the first projects I embroidered was the band of a chef’s hat I made. My sister-in-law has a great nephew that loves to help his grandmother and mother cook. So instead of practicing on a scrap piece of fabric I decided to use the band of the hat. It turned out really cute. I would have put his name but I wasn’t sure what spelling he used. And since I do most of my sewing after 10 pm I wasn’t able to call and get the correct spelling. So I put the word “Cook”. My sister-in-law appreciated the fact that someone was using the machine (since it had been gathering dust in the closet) and was excited to give her nephew the hat.

 

Another project that turned out much better than anticipated was some shoe bags. A friend had given me the bags from some twin size sheets she had purchased. When she gave them to me she said “I know you will come up with something to do with these.” I wasn’t sure what to do with them so I put them away for a later time. My friend travels fairly often with her husband and had mentioned one time that her shoes were always a problem in the suitcase. She did not like having them next to her clothes but hated to carry a separate suitcase for them. So I embroidered the word “Shoes” on the sheet bags and put a nice frilly design below. They are the perfect size for dress shoes, flats, flip flops etc. I don’t think they would hold tennis shoes but they might. When I returned the bags to her she was thrilled. Every time she travels she says “I always remember to put my shoes in the bags”. I recently found some bags I had stuffed in the back of my closet, so maybe I will make her some spare shoe bags.

Please share some of your machine embroidery ideas. I am always on the lookout for something new and different.
Danna