learning to sew

Posted on 2013/05/15 by daisyeyes

Once upon a time I had a vision of these great little embroidery kit’s for kids. I would use my felt scraps and my sewing machine to create a eco-friendly, washable and reusable set of sewing “cards”. They were pretty good sellers and as whole I got some good feedback on them. But they were crazy labor intensive, I wasn’t too excited about the felt bag and I knew that I could make them a little easier for me to put together and a lot more fun.

I’m excited to finally share my new children’s learn to sew/embroider kits!

They still come in two different versions: a girly pink and an anything goes blue. But now they come with a little tote style bag with these amazing hand drawn instructions that are sewn into the bag with a ribbon…so you will always have them with you. A huge thanks goes to my friend Caryn for her amazing drawing (and she has a super awesome blog that you need to check out!)

Each starter kit comes with a tote bag with instructions, yarn, a blunt tip needle and a set of shape sewing cards.

Each felt “card” is pre-basted and pre-punched for your child (or you!) to sew up through the holes and practice following a pattern and get the rhythm of up and down. The biggest hurdle for anyone learning to sew is merely achieving the up from the bottom and down through the top motion. These cards provide that practice in a fun and easy way.

In addition to the starter kits, there are two other add-on kits that can be ordered: a set of animals and a set of holiday themed cards.

For now, these sets will only be available locally at the farmer’s market in Knoxville and the art market in Maryville. They will be available on etsy during my grand “reopening” at the end of July.

a birthday post

Posted on 2012/12/17 by daisyeyes

Today is my chick’s 6th birthday. In many ways I think I’m in denial that my baby is now 6, but I won’t go there because today is a day to celebrate.
Here she is at about 3 months.

She is all about horses so we did a horse theme for our family gathering tonight. I convinced her to have cupcakes pretty much so I can make my favorite cupcakes ever…cookies and cream! I’ll have to share the recipe later.

I made a little banner out of scrapbook paper, stitched it together and hung it off these lollipop sticks I grabbed at Michael’s. I also found a tube of little horses that were perfect for grazing in their green sprinkled field!

And the big birthday gift was something that I hinted at a few days ago…this awesome bunk bed for her dolls that my oh so talented husband made. The plans are based off this bed by Ana White and I had seen where people had taken that bed and turned it into bunks. I counted my blessings being married to a handyman and he went at it!

As you can see, my quilts ended up being a little short and honestly so are the mattresses. I’m thinking that I’ll go back and redo the mattresses at some point, but the quilts are short to stay!

Happy 6th Birthday to my chickadee!

hello there {thursday threads} and a give away!

Posted on 2012/11/08 by daisyeyes

It feels like years since I did a thursday threads post! I’ve been swamped for the past month or so with some crazy big orders and this week I’ve had the chance to catch my breath. As my friend said, it’s “feast or famine” over here. And honestly as grateful as I am for the way that my little etsy shop is contributing to our family (and my ability to stay home) it sure is nice to have a little breather!

I’ve got a few things on my table and on my needle starting this week. A couple things for the shop, a fundraising sort of holiday sale I’m going to participate in and some holiday gifts for family.

First up is a new adoption embroidery that I’ve been wanting to do for a while. I saw this quote on Pinterest a loooooong time ago and have loved it ever since. This is a gender neutral version that could hopefully hang in a nursery for either a boy or girl or even just in your home. Can’t wait to share the finished project!

Second up are these felt gingerbread houses. The pattern comes from umecraft shop on etsy (she is generous enough to allow you to make and sell items from her patterns!) and it’s totally a stretch for me but something I’ve been wanting to tackle for a long time. I’m hoping if these gingerbread houses are a success, I can modify the pattern and make some little storybook houses with peg doll characters next year. The that I love about these is that they are reusable. I know that decorating a real, food gingerbread house is fun, but it drives me crazy to spend all that money on food and let it sit there for weeks and then throw it away! This way you get the fun year after year and it’s good for all ages!

Another new item I was able to finish this week are these sewing/hand embroidery kits for young children. I’ve had the idea for these stored up in my head for a while and I’m still tinkering with the results, but after a test run with my 5 year old they are ready to go! It is such a joy to see something that I’ve dreamed up in my head come to life. I’m super proud of these and I am so excited to share them that I’m offering a give away of one set. Just leave a comment by Friday, November 9 at midnight and I’ll use a random number generator to choose a winner on Saturday.

Last up is this camera embroidery for my brother. It’s time to start stitching holiday gifts and this is the first in line! The pattern is from Urban Threads. I’m planning on doing the whole thing in black, but changing up the types of thread (linen, cotton and cotton pearl) and stitch thickness (aka 1 v. 3 strands).

That’s about it! Whew!
Don’t forget about the give away!!!

happy luv day

Posted on 2012/02/14 by daisyeyes

For once, I feel like I actually planned and followed through with doing some special holiday things. I’m horrible at this and I’ve longed for years to be one of those mommas (well just people in general) that made a special breakfast and other little treats throughout special days. This year I’m so happy that I did.

We started out our morning with baked donuts. I found this recipe via Pinterest and although they are good, they look better than they are. I blame this completely on the fact that I was lazy and I made the dough in my breadmaker. I think if I would have done it by hand they would have been more doughy than they are.

We have a tradition of making our own valentines. I really thought this might be the year that my son realized that you could just buy them in a box, but we breezed right past that section of Walmart/Target and I’m so happy that after doing this for so many years he just automatically associates Valentine’s with something he makes himself.

We saw the viking valentine on Pinterest and he decided to draw it. I took a photo of his drawing, used Picnik (oh please don’t close!!) and doctored it up and voila! A super funny valentine for his friends. The chick’s is another pinterest inspired valentine with a ball and a kiss.

For his teacher he decided to do a little embroidery pillow with the initial of his school. I’m so proud of him for finishing it (he was getting a little tired when I suggested the chain stitch around the outside) and he helped me sew it and stuff it last night. So crazy to think he is big enough to just sit at my sewing machine and pretty much do it himself (gone are the days of him sitting in my lap!) The funniest thing about this is the switch of colors on the chain stitch. I asked him why he decided to put grey in there and he said, huh, I thought it was the same! (he is colorblind and I so often forget that)

I decided to make a secret treat for their lunchboxes today and made this snack mix yesterday. It’s been a loooong time since I’ve made this kind of snack mix and now I know why…it’s too addictive!! I found myself walking past it cooling off yesterday and snagging handful after handful. The recipe calls for peanut butter, but we have a peanut allergy in the house so I had to use almond butter. Because of that I ended up having to add probably a tablespoon of canola oil to the melting mixture to help with the spreading ability. It worked out great and tastes divine I also threw some raisins in there for good measure.

For the kids this year we decided to make this little mailbox with a “year of valentines“. Each month they get to scratch off a card and see what that month’s special event would be. This month we are going to go to breakfast at a local coffee shop. Next month we are doing a special little overnight trip during spring break. There is also a bowling trip, mini golf, giant picnic with friends, going on a hike, dessert at a restaurant among a few others thing.

And last is the husband. I made this little book of love tickets and also bought a box of hershey kisses and made this little card for the top. We are putting the kids to bed early (haha) and making a special dinner together tonight instead of going out.

so there is our day!

happy valentine’s day everyone!

saturday stitching

Posted on 2012/02/11 by daisyeyes

The winds are blowing outside and the balmy 60s have disappeared and left us with a freezing 20 degrees. It’s a perfect day to stay inside and catch up on some embroidery projects. I finished the blessing that was on my hoop (see sidebar) and it’s hanging to dry.

Next up on the embroidery front was my attempt at this month’s stitch along. I admit, this one had be quickly running the other direction. But I bought myself some wire and knew that I just had to try it out. Here’s a picture of my progress so far. I’m trying to make a “daisyeyes” nameplate to hang in my basement studio.

The Rooster got busy making an embroidery of his own today to deliver to his teacher on Valentine’s Day. He decided to make and “A” for the name of his school and quickly plowed through the straight stitch. I thought it needed a little something more, so I taught him how to do a chain stitch and I think he’s a natural!