birthdate embroidery

now in my shop, custom embroidery! i loved doing the wedding pieces for my newly-married friends this year, and thought a birth announcement embroidery would be just as sweet! i can't remember where i happened upon this cute fabric -goodwill or estate sale, but the little boy and girl figures begged for it! plus, it gives one the very real excuse of needing all the details before finishing up that baby gift.

i made this one shortly after our friends, the fortneys, welcomed graham into their lives. finn's birthday was not that long after, so i thought making matching birthday boys would be appropriate.

the pictures were taken before i had secured the fabric around the edge with stitches. i am also so very pleased that all the materials are reclaimed, recycled, or, as they say, 'upcycled'. there are a limited supply of these available since the fabric is also rescued, but there are plenty of little boys and girls now.

always, if you have an idea for a special birth embroidery or otherwise, don't hesitate to contact me at byhandathome (at) gmail.com. i especially love making things with the recipient in mind, so custom orders are a real pleasure for me. hope you enjoy these!

safety first

as colden grows, we've been moving our things higher and higher. at this point, little is unreachable, although he hasn't begun moving furniture to climb up and access higher shelves.

but, he has gotten the hang of the doorknobs. at first it was difficult to keep him out of the garage (and all its wonders and terrors), but now he is pretty content to 'leave it closed right now'. and i have to say that it's quite sweet when he hears the dogs whining to come in and lets them in. he closes the door behind them too. sometimes i even ask him to go take care of them! how great is that?

so we thought we might be able to get away without purchasing those plastic door handle covers that prevent children from opening doors while still allowing adult access. then, the other morning, marc woke up and colden was out of the bedroom. (i was still sleeping). with all the christmas lights, cole's fondness for electrical outlets and candles, the occasional stray pin, well. i guess this was a wake up call (ha!). marc proposed the idea long ago for a crocheted cover, and well, it was just easy as pie.

we may not need it for long, or we may need more, but either way it is not going in the landfill ever, beautiful to look at and touch, and didn't cost a dime. hooray!

for the love of handwork

september is a wonderful month, isn't it? so many celebrations! this project was for one of my greatest handwork teachers thus far. i worked alongside her as an assistant and learned lots of essentials i didn't know before. pattern-reading, altering, creating, lots of handsewing stitches, how to really crochet shapes and hats, and how to teach these things too!

in other words, a tall order. she is expecting a baby girl (any day now they say), and red is her favorite color. this luxuriously soft cashmere sweater was destined for baby-wear, and i sewed the sleeves into pants in short order. i've kinda got that process down, but the sweater jacket was a little more challenging. i added some flowery vintage trim (25 cents at an estate sale) to cover my rough edges, and some sparkly buttons (also estate vintage) that looked similar to other things on ms. gloriana's wishlist.

i think it will probably fit a lot better at a year and a half than 0-3 m., but isn't it sweet? i intended to make a hat too, but ran out of time. i've had a lot of crafty deadlines lately, including an application for crafty wonderland (due today!), which we attended for the first(!) time on sunday. i can't believe i'd never gone. it was spectacular!!! and i'd love to share more about that too - but for now, i'll leave a little link to the things i submitted as part of my app, here at: byhandathome.com if you see something you like, let me know. i'm working on re-tooling my etsy shop and getting some things up there too. i'm happy to make things specifically to your liking, especially if you are a dear friend, which you probably are if you're reading this! and thank you for doing so, i appreciate it!