Preparing for a move, adjusting and planning for a new assignment at church, finishing up Christmas gifts that need to be in the mail by the end of next week, having my 3 year old wake up in vomit multiple days this week and who insisted on mommy snuggles because he didn’t feel good, and birthday celebrations for my oldest who turned twelve on Wednesday.
This week didn’t go the way I thought it would, but when does it ever? I’m used to small adjustments here and there but this week was just ridiculous. Yesterday was the first day that I was able to even think about sewing anything. I knew I wouldn’t have a ton of time so starting on my BOM block wasn’t really an option and I really did need to finish up the tag for my mother-in-laws quilt if I was going to get it in the mail soon. So the tag it was.
I started to embroider two separate tags but both of them were turning out horribly. I couldn’t seem to keep my stitches straight even though I have a lot of experience with hand embroidery. The problem is I’m used to dealing with felt, which is stiffer than cotton fabrics, so I’m able to embroider without the use of an embroidery hoop. It didn’t even cross my mind that it would be needed until I wanted to throw my pathetic attempt of a tag across the room and leave the quilt tagless.
Even if I had a hoop it wouldn’t have helped me though. The material I was working with was too small to fit into a hoop. It seemed hopeless and I genuinely was about to give up when I had a brilliant idea.
I decided to apply foundation to the back of my fabric to add some stiffness and it worked! Not only did it allow my to embroider exactly what I wanted and it doesn’t look sloppy, but it also provided a nice shape for the finished tag. The split stitch I used worked perfectly for the size of the lettering and gives it a finished look. The picture distorts it a little bit, but I promise it’s legible in person.
I only snapped one picture and that is of the finished product, but I am really happy with how it turned out. It wasn’t much, but I did accomplish something this week.
I’m hoping I’ll be able to get a little more accomplished next week, but realistically that may not happen. December is shaping up to be a slow sew month for me but I’m hoping that once I’m all settled into my new house I’ll be able to get back in the swing of things. It won’t happen until January though. In the meantime, I will enjoy whatever sewing I’m able to fit in to my crazy busy days.
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