Creative Advertising ?

     My babies are finally starting to feel better, my 5 yr. old had tubes put in her ears last week (for the second time) praying that this will be the last tine and that it will correct the problem! My other 2 have also had double ear infections as soon as one would start getting better the next one would start running a fever, but now they are all doing much better!!...It has been a LONG two weeks but I'm very relieved to see them feeling better! If there is anything in particular someone would like to see a tutorial on please let me know because I would much rather do one that I know may help someone. I have been working on a few new designs and will hopefully have them up soon. When everything gets back to normal here I would like to play a few games on facebook for a chance to giveaway a few free designs,,,so any ideas or suggestions I would love to hear them!! I have never had a problem in the creative department before but creative advertising ???? I'm definitely falling short here because I can't seem to come up with anything!

Appliqueing a Shirt

  Okay it's a rainy day here and my babies are all napping so I thought I would take this chance to do a short but step by step tutorial on appliqueing a shirt. My time is very limited right now because one of my babies is terribly sick so I'm going to make this shirt for her to maybe brighten her spirits!

  
   To begin (this is a toddlers Cherokee shirt from Target) I fold down the center and iron to create a seam that I use as a guide line for centering my hoop. I have seen this done several different ways but this is what works for me! Sometimes for different items I will use the chalk outline but for shirts I stick to this. (I'm doing this on my Brother PR 650)

Then I hoop my stabilizer and shirt, this is a Durkee Hoop for the PR series that I use on almost all of my shirts because its bigger than the 5x7 so you can add a name or make your design bigger, you have more room to play without having to rehoop :) This hoop doesn't have markers on the center so I just drew some on which REALLY helped!

Always run a trial run when using one of these hoops to make sure you are within the proper sewing field!

Next step is Heat N Bond Lite, I use it on all my applique material! I have done it with and without and honestly it just makes your applique look so much better in the end it is definitely worth the extra step (and trust me I'm all about saving time in anyway possible) I go ahead and pre cut all my pieces of material I'm going to be using and add the Heat N Bond to them...I try to always cut the heat N Bond a little short because you want it to be smaller than your material rather than bigger because if its bigger, then wherever you are ironing it on at is going to be a sticky mess! I also try to cut my material just the right size I try not to waste anything :) And make sure you are using Heat N Bond Lite..not the Ultra its not good for your machine and its for iron ons anyways.

Next I do the guide line

After the tack down I cut around the tack down.....I know everywhere I had read and researched EVERYONE suggest using the Ginger curved scissors to do this step.....well I did until a friend of mine that lives very  far away sent me a care package with these in them, they are Havels double curved applique scissors. I do ALL my appliqueing with these and nothing but these and this is why, they don't have a sharp point on them which to me is a good thing because since I have been using them (about a year now) I haven't made one boo boo cut, I haven't cut into a shirt or anything..which is good news compared to when I was using the other scissors me making cutting boo boos was a common occurrence so I LOVE these! Maybe they are scissors for Dummies...I don't know but since I am in a hurry most of the time they help me stay boo boo free!

 After I cut I use one of these sticky rolls to get all the extra pieces of material off (I get these from the Dollar Tree)

Then I iron (if my hoop is big enough if not I skip this step) my material just for a few seconds.

Then I finsih stitching

I actually had my shirt pulled to tight in the hoop and its stretched a little on the left side so be sure not to do that!
This was my first tutorial so if I left anything out or you have any questions let me know!!! Just leave a comment or reply!

Happy Valentines Day!!!

    I'm a little behind schedule this week...my 5 yr old is having tubes put in her ears Thursday (for the second time) and there is a stomach bug going around at school so she has been sick on top of being sick and this morning my 2 yr old woke up sick so this makes for a full week, as in work I only have 3 custom shirts to do and then maybe next week I'll get to work on some new designs....and I still have a few to upload. Does anyone have any suggestions on what my first tutorial should be on, anything in particular you would like to see? Just leave a comment and let me know, it will probably be sometime next week before I get to it. 
  I know the date is wrong I actually posted this on Valentines day but changed my blog site over a few days later so thats why the date is wrong :)

All About Me

Hello! My name is Allyson, I'm a SAHM of 3 little ones-a 6, 3, and 2yr old. I'm an elem. school teacher and took off to be at home with my children. I love anything crafty and creative but my passion is with sewing & embroidery. My first sewing machine was actually my mothers' (it was older than me :) my first embroidery machine was a small brother embroidery/sewing machine and since I have upgraded to the brother PR 650. I did custom items (still do for friends & family) for awhile but one day my daughter & I were looking for a particular design that we couldn't find anywhere find anywhere so I s-l-o-w-l-y taught myself how to design my own, which brings us here...so in between being a mother, I digitize & test stitch all of my own designs...(my children are my inspiration they help me come up with all of my designs!) I'm very blessed that I get to do something I love and it allows me to be at home with my children!! It is very hard work & very time consuming with 3 kids, I'm slightly ADD so staying on a schedule (no matter how hard I try) can seem impossible at times but if my world was perfect You would get my newsletter once a month when I release my new designs! This is my plan and hopefully I won't get behind:) I would love to hear from you, share your interest and any ideas you may have! I guarantee my designs to be of the BEST quality and you will be 100% satisfied and if for any reason you're not email me and I will work with you until you are!
    Now that I finally have my website up and going... I had no idea how web illiterate I was until I started this venture and only have one good friend who could actually help at all in this department and he is really a computer tech not an IT but between the both of us I think we are getting it :) and now we are working on this blog & newsletter...there are several features I would like to add so I'm sure you will be seeing it change here and there until I figure things out!
     Also, when I got started I did a lot of research first and found a few blogs out there to be VERY VERY helpful so thats what made me decide that I wanted to have one...I will have tutorials and helpful techniques (tip & tricks). If you have a request for a certain tutorial or just anything I could help with please let me know!!