Christmas Machine Embroidery Free Standing Lace

 

Happy New Year's Eve Friends!

 

Remember  my Christmas gift?  The OESD Cd's?  Well here is what I have been busy with.

 

 

Even though these got stitched after Christmas it is still nice to have them on my tree.

 

These are pretty machine embroidery free standing lace designs with applique.  The red fabric I used to applique with is red velvet!  Beautiful red velvet!  To stitch them out I used water soluble stabilizer on both the top and bottom.

 

The water soluble stabilizer on the bottom was hooped then I floated the velvet and top water soluble stabilizer. 

Then I bought a yard of the pearls to make the hangers.

 

I am partial to free standing lace designs that have applique.  The applique gives the designs a unique look because you could use any color or design of fabric.  I love the velvet, both the look and the feel of it. 

Hope you enjoy the last of my Christmas designs, at least for a while.

 

Warm winter blessings from my house to yours.

Nancy

Machine Embroidery Designs - Free Snowflake Pattern for Sandy Hook Elementary

The tragedy in Newtown, CT has been on my heart as I'm sure it has been on yours. One of the children who passed away used to live in my town here in New Mexico.  I'm joining in on the Snowflakes for Sandy Hook Elementary movement to help welcome the children back to school.  Below is a quote from the North Canton Patch.

“Snowflakes for Sandy Hook” is one of several nationwide assistance movements spearheaded by the Connecticut PTSA on behalf of the Sandy Hook Elementary PTA. The National PTA joined in, sending out emails inviting PTA members across the U.S. to start crafting.
“When school resumes for Sandy Hook, it will be in a new building. Parent-volunteers are working to ensure that the students are welcomed back by a winter wonderland with the entire school decorated with as many unique snowflakes as possible,” the National PTA posted on its website.
 

Many crafters are making snowflakes from various media.  A number of machine embroidery designers have offered free snowflake patterns for enthusiasts like myself to stitch out.  I personally chose this free design offered by Lindee G. Embroidery.   I thought the design with the hearts in it truly spoke to me.


I love the music by Donna Cori Gibson.  Here she sings the Chaplet of Divine Mercy or the 3:00pm prayer.  Jesus is our rock even in times of sorrow such as this.  Jesus I trust in you.

If you would like to make snowflakes for Sandy Hook Elementary, you are asked to get them in the mail by Jan. 12th.  The address is below.

Want to make snowflakes for Sandy Hook Elementary students? If so, have them in the mail by Jan. 12 addressed to: Connecticut PTSA, 60 Connolly Parkway, Building 12, Suite 103, Hamden, CT 06514
 

In a near future post I will talk more about the snowflakes and how I made them.
Warm winter blessings from my house to yours,
~Nancy

 

Offering My Services to Test Your Machine Embroidery Designs

Dear Friends,

If any of you are machine embroidery designers and are in need of someone to test stitch your designs, I'd be happy to do so for you.  Along with that I'd put up a blog post showing my stitch-out and a link back to your website.

To be completely honest, my New Year's resolution is to learn how to digitize and I am wanting to study how different designers put their designs together, underlays, fill stitches etc.  I would NEVER copy your work in any way.  I have some creative designs floating around in my head that are just begging to be stitched out but I have to learn the ropes first.  Any blog posts written about the designs I test would only be posted if the design stitched out flawlessly and would include what material I stitched it on as well as what stabilizer or any specific techniques I used and again would be linked back to your website.  This would be a win-win for both of us!

My only limitation is that my machine is a Brother Innovis 1250D.  It is a combination sewing/embroidery machine.  This means that my maximum hoop size is 5 x 7 and the format my machine reads is PES.

Please feel free to e-mail me at basketmaster_nancy(at)yahoo(dot)com. I would enjoy working with you and getting to know you!  Thank you.

Blessings,
~Nancy

Merry Embroidery Christmas To Me!

I hope each of you had a beautiful and joyous Christmas this year.  Our sweet Katie could not come home for Christmas, she is in the Air Force, but she comes home TOMORROW!  It is only for a few days but I am so grateful for even a few precious moments.

This year my sweet in-laws gave me the CD's you see above.  They are from OESD (Oklahoma Embroidery Supplies Designs) and I LOVE their designs.  My machine has been busy humming away.  I'm particularly fond of the ornaments and free standing lace designs. 

I know it is after Christmas, but I will show you soon what I've been working on.

Blessings,
Nancy

Merry Christmas from Embroidery It

Dear Friends,
I want to wish each of you a very Merry and Blessed Christmas.  Like the wise men, may we too follow the star, follow the light, live in the light that leads us to our Lord and Savior.
With Love,
Nancy

PS.  I stitched out this Christmas ornament on navy blue velour which was placed on top of super heavy weight craft stabilizer.  This design is in a series called "Story Ornaments" and it is from Kreations by Kara.

Machine Embroidery Free Standing Lace Angel

Good Morning Friends,
I want to show you another angel I made using Sonia Showalter Designs, Angel of Christmas Ornament, for my sweet friend Vicki.  Vicki and I are sewing buddies and we get together at least a couple time a month with our machines to sew.  She does machine embroidery as well.

As with the others, this is a free standing lace design.  On this ornament, I glued little red rhinestones to the holly berries and to the hanging ribbon.  It added some nice bling to the look.

Enjoy and it is almost CHRISTmas.  What a wonderful day to Rejoice! 

Despite the sad tragedies that have occurred here in the United States, as well as tragedies occurring around the world, we have much to be thankful for.  I am eternally thankful that our Lord came as a baby here on earth so that my sins, our sins, would be forgiven.  Even in sadness, God has a plan and we need to lean on that with hope that we will someday see our savior.  For those of you in the midst of suffering, you are saying this is easier said than done Nancy.  I know that to be true.  For some of you who are suffering, you may have to take things minute by minute just to get through.  For you I pray for God's gracious peace to fall upon your heart and may you feel the comfort of his angel's wings carrying you forward.

With much love,
Nancy

Machine Embroidery Free Standing Lace Angels

I fell head over heals for these beautiful free standing lace angels from Sonia Showalter Designs.  Sonia does some amazing work with her designs. 

I made these angels for the ladies I craft with.  Each has their initial in the angel's gown.  Every week the ladies and I get together to knit, crochet or do other hand work such as hand quilting.  All are Christian women and it is a special time in my week to spend time with them and it gets my creative juices flowing.  They are angels in my life.  (We also manage to solve all the world's problems as we chatter and create!)

The designs are free standing lace in which I hooped water soluble stabilizer.  I washed the stabilizer out only enough to remove it from the small openings, but not so much that I let the designs go limp.  Some stabilizer remains to give stiffness to the angels.  I glued a piece of ribbon to the back side of the design, tied on a bow and finished by gluing a small red rhinestone to the bow. 

 

I slipped each one into their Christmas card. 

 

The angels can be used as a Christmas ornament or even a bookmark.

 

If you get a chance, send me a comment and let me know what you created as Christmas gifts this year.  Also, if you have a blog in which you show your machine embroidery, I'd love to see what you are working on.

 

Christmas Blessings,

Nancy

Machine Embroidered Christmas Handtowels

Dear Friends,

I've been working on some sweet hand towels to give as Christmas gifts.  I am bundling one candy cane towel with one Santa sled.  I think they turned out sweet as can be. 

The towels are from Costco.  The designs are from Anita Goodesign.  I used metallic silver thread for the top and white for the bobbin and just as with the Thanksgiving towels, I hooped water soluble stabilizer in the hoop, floated the towel on top and topped the towel again with water soluble stabilizer to keep the stitches up and showing.

I think these are the perfect Christmas gift for many on my list.
With love and Christmas Blessings,
Nancy

Machine Embroidered Thanksgiving Hand Towels

 

Dear Friends,

I've been busy with some continued sports work for clubs.  It has been a nice trickle of business coming in.  Not to much to overwhelm me with the holidays fast approaching.

 

I've also been making a handful of these Thanksgiving hand towels for all the ladies in the family that we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with.  It will be a houseful of hustle and bustle of activity and chatter.

 

Let me tell you briefly about the towels.  

This is a fun and quick project. I used water soluble stabilizer on the top and bottom so that the stitches would not sink into the nap of the towel.  The pattern for this is from Embroidery Library and I got the towels at Costco.  Just be sure to preshrink the towels first before embroidering on them!

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving holiday.  We have so much to be thankful for.  God is so FAITHful and good!  I am so grateful to have been able to start this little business this year and for it to be steady.  This has brought me such joy.  Our daughter Katie is home from the Air Force for 2 weeks.  How wonderful to have her home!!

May you all have safe travels this week and know that you, my readers are in my prayers.  I am thankful for each of YOU!

Blessings~Nancy

Cheer Leading Hoodies

 

Here are the finished hoodies for the cheer team.  Take a look at the front.

 

And now......

 

Take a look at the back!

 

Such a fun zebra applique to add to the back of the jackets!  This applique happens to be called Landon and is from Planet Applique.  There really was no puckering of the fabric.  I just wish I would have smoothed it out more before snapping the picture.

 

Enjoy!  The cheer team loves their hoodies.

Blessings,
Nancy

Machine Embroidery with Buttons

 

 

Dear Friends,
I just wanted to show you my polo shirt that I made.  This is my "cleaning the house" shirt and I wanted to brighten it up.  When I clean house I should wear something that makes me smile.  Right?  I love this embroidery pattern.  The flowers are designed with the centers empty and are made for stitching on a button. 
Super sweet!

 



I used a soft cut-away stabilizer on the back. 
The pattern comes from Embroidery Library.
Enjoy!
Nancy

Beginning Branding



Business cards have arrived!  I even splurged on a pen with my info on it!  This is just the beginning with the branding.  I looked today for a sage green/celery green shirt as I'm working on an embroidery design that has Embroidery It written on it.  I LOVE the color celery green.  It is such a color from nature, a beautiful God given color.  Celery green must not be in style for fall.  Nothing.  Nada.  I settled for a white shirt to embroider on, but I'll keep looking for the celery green one.
Blessings!
Nancy

The Cheerleading Skirts that Started this Business

 

Give me a "G"!  G!

Give me an "O"!  O!

What's that spell?  GO!

Go Embroidery It!  Yeah!!!

Dear Friends,

Here they are, the first products of my business.  The embroidered cheer skirts that I can't stop talking about.  I think they turned out super cute.  The size and style of font was picked by the customer and I think it looks great.  The girls are considering me to applique on their sweaters and make embroidered hair ribbons as well.  Fun!

I just had to take a minute and show you.  I used a nice cut-away stabilizer behind the lettering that is soft and won't scratch.  It did a great job as there was no puckering or pulling with the stitching.

Thanks cheer team for the business and an extra special thank you for helping me get my business started.

Blessings,

Nancy

Business Cards Ordered

Today I got my business cards ordered from Vista Print.  I just ordered their basic free cards that you only pay for the shipping and handling.  You get 250 that way.  Vista Print is smart.  As you go to check out they offer you all kinds of other business items that have your design and contact information on it.  Two of the things they offered me were a t-shirt and a tote.  Thing is though, I should EMBROIDER a t-shirt and tote bag.  After all I AM Embroidery It!  (Smiles)  I did get suckered into a pen with Embroidery It and my website on it.  Cute! 

Finally, after you place your order and make your payment, Vista Print says I "qualify" for reduced price items.  I can get an additional 250 business cards for only $3.99 and I could get additional pens at a lower price but I only had 10 minutes to take advantage of this special offer that I qualify for.  I took them up on the additional business cards.  $4 for 250 business cards was a good deal and there was no increase on my shipping and handling.  Vista Print is smart!

I hope you are enjoying following me on my new business journey.

Blessings,
Nancy

Embroidery It

Hi Friends,

Boy oh boy have I been having a dickens of a time getting this website/blog up and running.  I bought the domain name, Embroidery It, several days ago, but the website, hosted by Google, wouldn't bring it up.  If you typed in www.embroideryit.com, it would keep coming up as a 404 error.  I've been on the phone with GoDaddy and they say it is a problem with Google.  I have tried to notify Google, but alas, I've not been very successful.  Google doesn't want to talk or read emails from real people.  So the best I've been able to achieve is now when you type in www.embroideryit.com it comes up as www.embroideryit.blogspot.com.  I have seriously worked for hours on this.  At least I'm no longer getting the 404 error.  I even considered attempting to get another domain, but gosh, I really liked the name Embroidery It.  Anyone else out there have a 404 error problem like this?

So now I am going to move forward.  I'm going to order my business cards and get my business presented to the world.

I finished four of the cheerleading skirts this afternoon and the cheer team is also interested in some embroidered hair ribbons that I have been working on.

So despite the trouble with the whole domain thing, I have a website and I have a business.  I have a start!  I pray the good Lord blesses this business and that in some way I can use it to bless and encourage others. 

Thanks for reading.

Nancy

My First Job!

It's an exciting day today.  I got paid for my first job!  My first real embroidery job! I was given the cheerleading skirts and they picked out the font and size and gave me the specific details as to spelling of the names and where they wanted the names placed.  This may not sound like much to you, but it is to me.  It is the beginning and the start of what I hope to be, dream to be a wonderful business!!!!

Welcome to Embroidery It

Hi Friends,
This is me in the picture.  I'm Nancy Jacobs and I'm pleased and proud to announce that my new business, Embroidery It, is launching!  Owning my own business has been a dream of mine for many years and now my dream is turning into a reality. 

I oh so enjoy machine embroidery!  I can't say that enough.  I have just gone wild with it and if it stands still long enough and a needle can pierce it, look out.  It will be embroidered on!  Embroidery for me is pure fun.  It has been through a series of events that now I want to share my passion with you.   My tagline is "Embroidery It provides creative personalization and unique gifts all with a needle and thread." 

Let me tell you a little about myself.  First and foremost I am a follower of Jesus.  I consider saying that I am a Christian to not be enough as I'm more than just a believer, I do my absolute best to truly live and follow the teachings of our Savior.  I am married to my best friend, Mike, for over 24 years now.  We have three beautiful teenage children.  The oldest two are girls and our youngest is our son.  Our oldest is out of the house now and is in the Air Force.  It is because of the children getting older and now leaving the nest that I have the time to pursue my passion of owning and running my own business and following my dream of being an entrepreneur.

You might also enjoy knowing that I relish all things involving homemaking, well not always cleaning, but I find delight in cooking, gardening, and all forms of crafting as well as the basics of running a household.  In fact, another passion of mine is helping young women learn about God's view on homemaking in order that their marriages become strong and so they can see God's plan for their lives.  Finally, I'm an independent Scentsy consultant.  That is a home party business that sells what would be called a flameless candle which melts wonderfully smelling wax.  If you are ever interested in anything Scentsy, you can visit my website HERE.   So that is a bit about me and who I am. 

Embroidery It is getting itself off the ground.  It is having a few business snafu's which I'm working out.  But hey!  That is part of being a business owner and getting past the learning curve, right?

I have been, and still am, working on getting my blog/website set up. I've also started a Facebook page which you can find HERE. My new Etsy store can be found HERE. It is so exciting! I've also been designing my own business cards.

For my first official job I have a team of cheerleading skirts in which I am personalizing with the girls names.  I will post a picture of them next week.  In the mean time, say a quick prayer that I get the business and website bugs worked out.  If I can help you out with any embroidery, please send me an e-mail to basketmaster_nancy(at)yahoo(dot)com and I'll get right back to you.

Thanks for visiting my site and I look forward to sharing my embroidery with you.
With hugs and blessings,
Nancy

Disclosure Statement

Disclosure:

This policy is valid from 13 October 2012.

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact me:  Nancy Jacobs at basketmaster_nancy(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Any personal or private information sent to me by email will never be disclosed or published without expressed permission.

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I write for my own purposes. However, this blog may accept forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

Any compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. All advertising will be identified as paid advertisements.

The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely mine.  I don’t claim to be an expert on any certain topics or products or service areas.  I am only sharing my own experience with various products and services.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider.