Monday Accomplishments

Today I decided to dust off the embroidery machine and get to work on some pillow cases that have been taking up space.  I am always on the look out for great deals and I like to pick up mix-matched pillow cases at my local Goodwill.  At .49 each, you can't beat it!  My goal was to take these home and start embroidering the girls' names on them so that they had something special on their bed. 

I made 2 for Kayla, 1 for Kaileigh, 1 for Haley, and 1 for Grace and felt pretty good about getting something accomplished until I saw their faces when they got their pillow cases embroidered in their favorite color, and then I felt GREAT!

I have a Janome 350e.  I bought this machine about 3 years ago with the intention of doing all types of crafty goodness.  And I love that I got it.  I've done decorative towels, embroidered burp cloths, hair bows, wash cloths, pillow cases, and even blankets.  I think my favorite was one Xmas when I made everyone no sew fleece blankets, and then I embroidered their names in the corner.  Dallas Cowboys for my Dad, Texas Longhorns for my son. 

So I wanted to show you a little of what I did today.

 The picture above is a picture of my machine hard at work.  I have done a lot of trial and error with my machine and I have a lot more to learn.  My biggest hiccup is getting the tension right for different fabrics.  Too much and the white shows through, not enough and I get bubbles.

 This picture here is just a close up of the machine doing its stitch work.  My older daughter says that this machine is a cheater because I don't have to do anything but punch in what I want and hit go.  If it were only that easy LOL... but really... it sort of is!

This is the finished piece.  Not too shabby for a built in font and a .49 pillow case.  One thing I've learned about being a Mom of 5 is that I don't have the extra money to cute up my house right out of the designer stores, but I can do a little crafting up to what I do find and make it as cute as can be. 

I have a couple of projects I'm working on with my machine and when I get it perfected, I'll share on here.

1) Appliques.

2) Embroidery on cards.  Yep you knew I had to have paper in this somewhere LOL.

Until next time keep Crafting, Keep Crafting, and have a great day!