Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Stitched Gifts for Mom

I'm just back from Maker Faire and am still in recovery mode, so I thought I'd share some pictures of one of the gifts I stitched this month for my mom. She has a birthday the week before Mother's Day, and this year I had embroidered gifts in mind for both occasions, so that meant tons.of.stitching. and tons.of.fun.


The Mother's Day project hasn't been fully photographed yet, because it still needs to be sewn into a pillow. My sister and I gave each of our kids a piece of typing paper and had them trace their hands and then write their names on the paper. I then transferred those drawings to fabric and stitched them for mom. The result was really fun, because their stitched signatures were each so incredibly different. I loved that! I still need to sew it into a pillow case, but will take pictures once I do.

I also stitched up a set of Mah Jong napkins for mom. As I've mentioned before, we are big fans of Mah Jong. Mom taught me how to play about 10 years ago (eesh - has it been that long!?) and though I don't get to play very often, she has a Mah Jong group that meets regularly. After I stitched the Mah Jong tablecloth that appears in Jenny Hart's Embroidered Effects (her designs, just my stitches) I realized I needed to use the patterns to make something for my mom. I didn't have time to do another large tablecloth, so I decided to go for napkins instead.


We offered the Mah Jong patterns as a freebie pattern on CRAFT last Fall, so I used that PDF to shrink the word "Mah Jong" to fit on the napkins. (the napkins came from Pier 1 and are trimmed in jumbo ric rac - WIN!) I put a tile on each one and ended up creating my own version of a Dragon tile to round out the fourth napkin. I don't have a picture of that one yet, though, as some stitches had to be ripped out.

I rolled the napkins up - not laid them out as is seen in the picture here - and put them in a ceramic Chinese take out container that I picked up at World Market. Mom loved them and said she can't wait to host the next round of Mah Jong so she can use them. If I have time, I'll have to stitch up a towel to match ....

6 comments :

  1. So cute! I wish I could embroider!

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  2. These are very super cool. I love the writing style.

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  3. Thanks, Melissa! If you download the embroidery patterns from the CRAFT link above, you'll have the lettering available to use yourself! :)

    Knit Purl Girl - Embroidery is *easy* and crazy kinds of fun! Find a class nearby to learn, or check out Sublime Stitching or Needle N Thread or Sharon B's Stitch Index or Early Bird Special for more ways to get started! Warning: It's *highly* addictive! :)

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  4. they are so lovely !!what a sweet daughter!

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  5. I love that you thought of something that is so personal and that your Mom will love sharing with her friends.

    Can't wait to see the hand print pillow with signatures. If she is the crying type - you will do her in!

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  6. This is wonderful! I even have this book, but hadn't read through it yet. My mother in law is a big MahJohg player and hostess. I am always trying to come up with something handmade and meaningful for her for the holidays. Problem solved!

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Thank you so much for your comments! I read every single one of them. I do my best to respond when I can.

Have fun and be nice! :)
XOX
Rach