I love to sew by hand. I can sew very well by machine, but the detail hand work where I imagine each stitch and execute is my kind of mediation.
I have been stitching since I was younger than 8 years old.
I have been knitting too, since I lived in London. That was back in 1998. I learned from a Sotheby’s colleague. Her name was Nilufer and she was from Turkey and she was incredibly patient! Our male colleagues did not like us knitting beside them at the pub. I created nothing worth keeping.
Actually I don’t keep a lot of my creations. I throw it out very soon after.
I made my own wedding dress, my bridesmaids dresses, a three seat sofa with 6 individual zippered cushions, countless roman blinds, ridiculously cute dresses for little Oonah with French Couture seams.
I have sewn 5 faux fur vests, Halloween Costumes, countless party and everyday dresses for myself, blankets, table linens and the waists of almost every pair of Wyatt’s pants since he lost that enormous tummy he had as a baby! He's 8!
I have spent so much time monogramming Wyatt’s clothing with very preppy letters that I know he wished I wouldn’t! I even monogrammed his school painting shirt that I designed and I sewed! I created all their painting smocks. Oonah had a cute little smock with a bunny on the front with frilly cap sleeves!
I let my wedding dress go and donated it. I can sew Oonah her own wedding dress. And I could do a much better job today. Further, the material wasn’t that great to endure 20 years. I am not sentimental about what I create.
So when I show this little name embroidered Christmas Craft that I have hung onto for a couple years is because it isn’t out of date and I don’t want to improve on it. In fact, the colours of this garland work so well with my 11 Gnomes ornaments and many other of the felt crafty bits I have going on.
I love consistency and harmony so this years holiday decoration will sit well with me.
Now normally, I would suggest you use me for your design needs but during this Pandemic, that’s not an option. Here’s a few tips if you were going to create your own version:
Select any fabric that suits your mood or décor – select fabric with some open space to embellish with names with contrasting/bold colour
Fabric can be busy with pattern but you’ll have to be wise with your design – small prints require larger fonts that are full with colour.
Try different shapes – the English call it bunting and they use a triangle shape
Connecting the pieces make the song – I made my own bias tape and worked within the colour scheme
I have cut the garland to show only my family names but originally it was over 12 pieces long with all the members of my family. You can hang from a banister, wrap around the tree or along an arch to a room.
