Almost Summer!

Good afternoon! We are counting down to Summer around here! My kids get out of school next Friday, May 23rd! A couple of weeks ago I made the trip down to Ruthie’s Notions in Baker, Florida to teach a Basics of Applique class (my usual topic). I was there for 2 days, and managed to snap 3 whole pictures. Below are some samples that I have sewn (or appliqued or monogrammed)  and took to show. Everyone just LOVED all of the blanks! These are all Applique Cafe designs of course. I believe all of the monogramming is Monogram Wizard Plus “Master Circle” font.

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More monogrammed and appliqued items! I am obsessed with the colors in this bag!! It’s a coral-y peach color monogram (Monogram Wizard Plus “Master Circle” font) on a “spa” colored jute bag, which came from a local store that I do monogramming for. The towel and bag were both Mother’s Day gifts for my mom! 🙂

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I also took lots of awesome blanks that I did not get a chance to stitch! Again, everyone went crazy over all the blanks! There is a list of blanks suppliers here on my blog – click HERE (in LINKS).

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Here are several new designs we will be listing later today! I love Bird designs! You could also put fabric under the nest stitching and make it raggy (fabric + flannel). blog birds closeup blog birds

This is a great one for the boys! We live near Lake Martin (Alabama) so we spend a lot of time on a Pontoon Boat! These are my favorite colors for summer {after the spa/coral color combo}!blog boat

This Pontoon Boat was sewn by Glenda at That’s 2 Cute. Find her on Facebook! She added some ric rac for the water which is adorable!!

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This is our new Mini Raggy Oval Patch, which can be sewn on anything. I typically use a layer of flannel (white or any color) underneath my fabric for raggy designs. You simply trim, leaving about 1/8″ around (give or take) and then scrape with your scissors to create the raggy effect. For this VISOR, I stitched the patch on a medium weight tearaway stabilizer. I hooped the stabilizer, then sewed the patch on to it just like any applique (fabric + white flannel). I then trimmed around the patch, pulled away the stabilizer and glued it to the visor using Fabric Fusion fabric glue. You could also stitch this on using a cap frame/cap hoop if you have a multi needle machine. blog visor

Here is the same patch on a pair of cute lounge shorts. These were sewn by Glenda at That’s 2 Cute (custom monogramming and appliques). Precious!!!!!blogthats2cute

This is Whale 4 stitched on a Blanks Boutique onesie. Their onesies snap up the back, which makes it super easy to monogram and applique! I was able to get a 5×7 design on this onesie.

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Again, here’s That’s 2 Cute’s version on a cute pink Monag dress. Remember my post about Pic Monkey? That’s what she used to add the “water” overlay on the photo!

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We are working on getting these listed as I type! In case you didn’t know, all designs are on sale through tomorrow, Wednesday, May 14th! www.appliquecafe.com Have a great day!!

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Sassy Kid Blanks

Happy New Year! Is it 2014 already?? Where did 2013 go? We had a great end-of-the-year and a great Christmas. We hope you did too! Over the break I received some new blanks from a new supplier, and I’ve finally been able to get outside and take some photos and share with you what they have to offer. When I first started doing embroidery, I swear you had a choice of Rabbit Skins or Monag Kids. There have been lots of new blanks suppliers “born” over the past couple of years. We definitely have a great variety of sources out there and one of the newest is Sassy Kid Blanks. They are based out of South Carolina and you can read more about them on their website.

My disclaimer for 2014… I am no photographer! I do have a prop or two and the sun finally came out today, so I got my rain boots on (because my yard is a swamp) and had a little photo shoot. First off, below is their Girls Short Sleeve Shirt featuring our new Bunny 6 Applique Design. You can read a full description of their items on their website! I love the pom pom trim, the ruffle on the bottom and the puff sleeves! I love an applique design on this shirt!

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Here’s a closeup of the pom pom and ruffle on the bottom of the shirt. This is a sz 6 shirt and the Bunny design is a 5×7 hoop design (on this shirt).

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All of their items I’m showing have a button or snap closure on the back of the neck. This helps with getting the garments on and off, and it also helps with hooping and getting it on your embroidery machine (especially the single needle machines – it gives you a little extra room to get the shirt out of the way).

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Below is their Baby Boy Short Sleeve Bodysuit. This would be precious under a little john john too with no embellishment.

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Snaps on the back.

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Here is their Baby Girl Long Sleeve Bodysuit. Again, this would be precious underneath a little Aline or other dress, or with a monogram or small applique or mini embroidery design.

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This is a shot of the back snaps and the little ruffles on the sleeves. I miss the baby clothes….

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Baby Girl Short Sleeve Bodysuit… So wittle and pwecious!! 🙂 Again, sweet underneath a sleeveless outfit or one with straps, or alone with a little monogram or applique/embroidery design. It would be cute with a little pair of bloomers too.

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Back – snaps and ruffle sleeves

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Here is their Girls Sleeveless A-line dress. This one is screaming for a cute monogram or applique design! Hopefully I can take care of that soon and I will repost!

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Pom pom trim and ruffle! This is a sz 6 also.

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Here is their Boys Short Sleeve Shirt. This is a dressier option for a boys blank shirt ~ add a simple block or natural circle monogram and pair it with dressier pants or shorts.

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It also buttons up the back.

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Check out their Girls Long Sleeve Empire Waist Dress. LOVE LOVE LOVE this! You will see below that a monogram is perfect on these, as to not take away from all the adorable ruffles. All of these items are 100% interlock cotton knit, which means nice and thick to hold a monogram or applique/embroidery design!

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A closeup of the bottom ruffles ~ 2 layers!

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Love the collar, button closure in the back and puff style sleeve!

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Girls Long Sleeve A-Line Dress ~ Simple and dainty with the pom pom trim! Also has the puff style sleeves.

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This might be my favorite! Girls Sleeveless Empire Waist Dress. This was before I added a monogram.

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It’s screaming MONOGRAM ME!!!!!

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Girls Long Sleeve Shirt

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Button closure on the back to make it easier to get it over your child’s head! It really helps with hooping too and especially with the single needle machines.

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So my daughter was outside riding her bike in her Nike shorts and a long sleeve t-shirt from a bait & tackle store in Orange Beach, AL. Her hair was a mess, so I bribed her to model for me for 5 minutes in this dress. I now owe her $2. Of course the bright sun was blinding her and she usually has a better suntan for a dress like this. I managed to get a few decent shots and as you can see, Maggie photo bombed the picture too. Sissy is 5 (almost 6) and this is a size 6 dress. When I monogrammed it, I measured from the bottom of the ruffle around the neckline to the seam of the empire waist. That way the monogram was centered underneath the ruffle. This is Monogram Wizard Plus “Master Circle” font and it measured about 3.25″ tall and wide for this dress. She picked out the turquoise thread for the monogram.

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It was like 12 degrees earlier this week, but today it’s a balmy 68 so this worked out perfect! This is her new bike she got for Christmas!

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A monogram is just perfect on this dress!

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The space between the bottom ruffle and the empire waist is about an even 5″ on this size 6 dress. Again, this monogram was about 3.25″ tall and wide. You could do it a little bigger if you wanted to.

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The painted fingernails and toes are compliments of a birthday party she went to last night.

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This was her telling me she was done w/ my $2 “photo shoot”. As you can see, the length falls well below the knee. So cute for spring & summer! I can see a lot of these on the beach this summer { beach pics with the fam}! It would work great as a swim cover-up too.

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Sassy Kid Blanks has some color options as well. They have a bubblegum type lighter pink (officially called Candy Pink) and a red option for girls (High Risk Red). A light blue (Skyway Blue) for boys. Please read their FAQ about shrinking, discount codes, etc. You can also check out their sizing options {measurements after washing are located in the size chart for each item}. Looks like girl sizes range from 12M to 8. Boys are 12M to 8 as well. Baby stuff ~ 3M, 6M, 9M & 12M I believe.

**Please note, their site is PRE-ORDER right now for March delivery. If you have ANY questions, please email them at info@sassykidblanks.com or use their Contact Us tab on their website. Check out their FAQ too! I’m just showing you some of the items they are offering. They can answer any and all questions you might have!

I’ve added them to my blanks list which is located under LINKS up top. SKB is also on Facebook! Have a great week!

Fabric and Blanks

 I have been MIA for about a month! So sorry!! Such is life with 3 kids in the Springtime! There is never enough time in the day blah blah blah you know what I’m talking about. I wanted to show you some new SPRING fabric that I got from TJs Fabrics. If you are planning a beach trip this spring or summer, get your GPS out and find TJs. If you travel to Destin or Panama City Beach, it might be doable depending on where you are coming from. Any detour will be well worth it! This first bundle is by Snap Pop by Sandy Gervais for MODA. I am a sucker for anything ORANGE!! Can’t wait to use these!!

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These below are Riley Blake Ladybug Garden. LOVE LOVE the ladybugs!! I am also a sucker for GREEN & PINK!

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Chevrons…. Oh how I love thee….. These are all Riley Blake also. These are medium and small chevrons and in case you’ve been under a rock for the past year, chevrons are THE BOMB right now. You can use them horizontally, and I have used them a couple of times vertically (see Fish 2 and Loopy Easter Basket designs below this pic).

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How about some GINGHAMS to go with the CHEVRONS??? These are Riley Blake also and they match the chevrons perfectly!!! If you have seen my website, you know I use gingham A LOT. I absolutely love all of these colors also!

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A–dorable!!!

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TJ’s Fabrics will be at the Everything Applique Conference this year, and BTW early registration ends this Saturday, March 16th. The early bird price is $119 and will go up to $149 on Sunday! So far they have surpassed last year’s registration numbers and are super excited about all of the vendors and folks who will be there!! Check out the website for all of the details and to register!

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Have you noticed all of the new BLANKS websites popping up lately? I think it’s super exciting to see so many new options and what they are offering! Which reminds me I need to update my LINKS on my blog… Below are a couple of items from Drawing a Blank. This is a size 4T red Puff Sleeve Shirt. They also come in white and pink and go up to a size 6. DABlanks items are 100% interlock cotton which is thick and very soft. Inventory is in stock and ships in 24 hours. You can also find DABlanks on Facebook! I have not had a chance to stitch anything out on these yet but am seeing something with turquoise on this red tee for summer…..

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I also have this cute long sleeved white dress with pink ruffle. They also have different colors, solid pink, black and white with no ruffle and short sleeve options (with the ruffles). This is a size 4/5 and seems very generous. I think this would be great at the beach at night when it can be a bit cool. This photo was taken on my covered porch but below is another picture which shows the bright pink!

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Sissy is holding it up so you can kind of see the sizing. She just turned 5 and wears a 5T and this will fit her perfectly! Be sure to check out Drawing a Blank! I will add them to my LINKS list as well!

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I just listed 5 new designs today at Applique Cafe, and Easter Designs are ON SALE! Have a great weekend!!

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