From my sewing room: A Special Gift



My nephew Nick, 1989

There are milestones in my life from a few years ago that I can recall very well; graduation from college, buying a car on my own for the first time, my first "real" job.....

and all these events took place around the time my nephew Nick was born.

 



Nick and Shelby, 2011

 And now the little baby boy that was born to my brother and sister-in-law 22 years ago is a wonderful and handsome young man with a bright future and an adorable fiancé to whom he is engaged to be married to this October.

(And he'll be sure to tell you he is my favorite nephew, too, and he is....
but he is also my only nephew. *grin*)

For their wedding I wanted to give them a special gift, and once I saw they had black towels on their wish list I thought personalizing them with a simple white monogram with their last initial (Y) would be just the thing. (Nuthin' fancy, because they're not into the "fru-fru" stuff. *grin*)

I got to work by first digitizing a monogram on the computer..... this is actually the hardest part because the computer design has to be "clean" enough for the stitches to look neat once it's ready to embroider. Once I'm happy with the design, it's as simple as transferring the design to the computer card and popping it into the machine.

Next comes the most nerve-wracking part for me: placement of the design. I have to carefully measure to make sure it's centered perfectly in the middle and not off to one side.

After I mark where the design will be, the hoop is placed over the top along with an embroidery "topper" to keep the stitches from sinking into the nap of the towels so the design will look nice and smooth. Once the machine has finished sewing, you just tear it away, leaving nothing but the design. It looks and feels a lot like cellophane, but is a lot thinner and is also water soluble in case it doesn't all tear off at first try.

The machine takes over from there....

                                        

And.... 

Ta-da!

This is how the design looks on the bath towel;

I just had to resize the design to make it smaller for the hand towels and washcloths.

I also commissioned my friend Dani, who has a wonderful new ETSY shop, to make a special stitchery for their bathroom- done in black work with a black frame.

Thanks, Dani- I know they're going to love it.

Now if I can just convince myself he's all grown up and soon-to-be married...

*SIGH*

Time passes so quickly, doesn't it?

Happy Tuesday, everyone!