That’s it. That’s the message. I know it’s no longer October and we’ve moved on from the specific Breast Cancer Awareness Month to the festive Hallmark Channel and holiday activities. But I want to emphasize the message again.
Get your mammograms, ladies.
My sister went in September. They found something and it’s been removed. Just not as easily as we had hoped. Things like this tend to get complicated. But she is past the surgery and doing well. Of course, once she found out, I immediately made an appointment for mine. I got called back…something didn’t look right. After four agonizing days of wondering if I had the same problem, I was able to go back in and they took another picture and all was well. For now. They handed me a chocolate breast cancer ribbon and sent me on my way.
I know you’re all busy. We worry about our cholesterol, our weight, our eyes, our teeth, our hair, our families and their health, and we even worry about the planet.
But we all need to start to prioritize ourselves. It’s not our nature to do that. But I’m learning, especially as I get older, to make the time for myself. I can’t help my family or friends or anyone else if I’m not OK.
You,too. None of us is here forever. But let’s make an effort to be well while we’re here.
Not just the ones who had children at a very young age, but also now those who had them at a normal or not-so-very-young age.
I first started quilting in my twenties when all my friends had babies. I made dozens and dozens of flannel baby quilts, most of them hand-tied and filled with the fluffiest polyester money could buy. The parents and kids loved them.
I moved on to more traditional quilting, took classes, and eventually started teaching. But I never forgot how I got started.
Babies.
These days, I’m doing a lot on diapers and onesies. It took some experimenting, but I have found the best methodology.
Keep it simple.
Onesies absolutely do not support a whole lot of stitches. Even some fonts are iffy, depending on the number and size of the satin stitches.
Use two layers of polymesh stabilizer.
I use OESD cutaway polymesh. I experimented with one layer and just didn’t think it was enough. Depending on your design, you may even want three layers. A traditional cutaway adds way too much bulk and stiffness, so go with a polymesh. I also tried fusible, but that distorted the look of the onesie. I’m not a fan of 505 spray so I don’t use it when hooping.
Use a ball point needle.
If you’re familiar with embroidering on knits, you already know this. But if you usually embroider on quilt cotton, it’s easy to forget to change out the needle. Onesies are very stretchy and the fabric really separates when you use a ball point or “jersey” needle. It makes a difference in the longevity of the embroidery, because a ball point separates the threads of the fabric instead of cutting right through them.
Washing Instructions.
I use rayon thread (Isacord) which is bleachable and holds up well when washed. I throw onesies right into the washer and dryer…even in hot water and high settings.
The fabric, 100% cotton, always shrinks a bit. And the embroidery may curl because of that. The best way to fix this is to lay a towel on your ironing board, and lay the onesie face down against the towel — with the embroidery against the towel. Iron the back of the onesie without steam until everything is laying flat again. No problem.
I sew on a Bernina and you can see that with their free arm, it’s really easy to stitch on a onesie without a lot of pinning, clipping and gyrations to keep the back out of the way.
Finally, use a 9 month size or larger.
Maybe it’s possible, but I never attempt to embroider a newborn or 3 month size. I just don’t see how I can stretch it enough around the hoop. I’d have to switch to the very smallest hoop which has a tiny field of embroidery. Most of the onesies I’ve done are size 12 month. They still look relatively small, and get smaller after washing. But they are large enough to work on comfortably.
Sending love and blessings to all my friends and co-workers and friends of friends and co-workers who are keeping the earth populated. There’s really nothing quite like participating in the ritual of welcoming the very newest generation.
C’mon. You know you’ve seen this truck everywhere.
I’m not sure when it became the definitive retro/vintage/holiday symbol. But somewhere along the way it did. I’ve seen it in catalogs, in charming shops, on TV (Hallmark Channel has at least one movie where the truck is a co-star.) I’m sure this old truck obsession is a simple longing for tradition, simplicity, home-baked cookies and the scent of actual pine. But let’s remember: this cute, sentimental old truck could put out enough dangerous fumes to choke a horse pulling an open sleigh. We are excellent at suspending reality during the holidays.
That said, my grandfather had a dark green/blue one just like it on the farm. (You can see it in the pic with Mom and me below.)
Since I’m as sentimental as everybody else around the holidays, I found myself purchasing the truck machine embroidery shown at the top. Buy it here.
I stitched it out on Kraft Tex. If you’re not familiar with Kraft Tex, it’s the miracle textile that the Levi’s logo is made of. It doesn’t rip. It’s washable. It lasts forever and takes a beating and doesn’t show wear and tear. And you can sew with it and on it.
I wasn’t sure how it would hold up with 22,000 stitches on it, but I used Stabilstick Cutaway stabilizer and it was perfect.
Then I started getting more ideas about holiday decor using Kraft Tex and machine embroidery. You can find some cute and simple designs here.
I stitched them out, again using the Stabilstick cutaway stabilizer. I put a design on the front and on the back, trimmed them to size, rounded the corners, and stitched in black around the outside. They are the perfect shape for mouse pads. But I added ribbon and will give them out on Thanksgiving as a holiday decoration.
Once I did those, I started testing ornaments.
CAUTION: Don’t just resize the designs.
I tried to take them from 7 or 8 in. wide down to 4 in. Even in software, they did not size down properly. They were not originally .ART files, so the software was struggling to reduce stitches. I tried it anyway, but…
Yuck. Big mistake. So I went back to the website and ordered some new ones in smaller original sizes.
These turned out just fine. I’ll be adding ribbon and using them as ornaments. They will have different designs on each side. I’ll share more when I get them completed.
For now, I’m wishing all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving and a relaxing weekend with loved ones. My holiday will be spent with 10 close family members and 2 dogs. That’s charming and sentimental enough for me.
